Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

Date of publication: 28th March 2025

The WBO Welterweight World Title rematch between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan takes place in Las Vegas tomorrow. Just before leaving for their first fight, British boxer, Ryan was hit by a can of red paint. Mayer was blamed for the attack.

In her BBC Sport column on 25th March, WBO welterweight champion Mikaela Mayer addressed the events leading up to her victory over Sandy Ryan last September in New York.

In response, Mayer said, ‘I was in my room and we were starting to walk to the elevator, waiting for the go-ahead from the team to say we could go down because we were at the same hotel as Sandy Ryan. Sandy was out there first waiting for her car, so we stood by the elevator and my nutritionist said to wait because she hasn't got in the car yet.’

‘My nutritionist was looking at her phone and was like, 'oh my god, someone just threw paint on Sandy. We were all taken aback but I didn't understand that I was apparently the culprit.’

‘I got in the car but didn't really understand the extent of it until I got to the arena and online there was a photo of Sandy, who was stripped down with red paint on her. ESPN came in to see me and apparently I'm being blamed for the attack.’

‘Everyone who knows me, knows that would be out of character for me - it's not my style. I expected her to try to blame me. I was her rival all week but there were also other things going on.’

‘Sandy has already said flyers attacking her were put up around the hotel and city.’

‘You can't just point a finger when there is no evidence leading back to me. I was upstairs waiting to walk down for the fight of my life.’

‘I didn't know what time she was going to be down there or that she was going first. The only people who knew were her team - maybe she should look inside her own circle.’

This is a long answer which is unnecessary. Longer answers generally seek to convince whereas shorter answers seek to convey the truth. Mayer says, ‘Everyone who knows me, knows that would be out of character for me...’ She doesn’t say that others know that she didn’t do it or that she wasn’t involved.

She then adds the reason she can’t be accused is due to the fact that, ‘there is no evidence leading back to me.’

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. That she introduced the words, ‘leading back to me’ can be indicative of a connection.

Often people will tell the truth but not the whole truth. We can ask, is it possible that someone is telling the truth but that they are still responsible? Mayer is telling the truth. It might be out of character for her, she might not do it in the future, as yet, there mightn’t be any evidence leading back to her. Is it possible that she or her team arranged for someone to do it for her?

Did Mayer say she didn’t do it or wasn’t involved? She didn’t. If she can’t deny it, we can’t deny it for her. If the subject didn’t answer the question, then they did.

We hope the victor is only of the mind to paint just the town red in celebration!

There are many more linguistic cues which reveal further insight into the statement. For more information on how we can train you to see what is hidden in plain sight, contact us for more information.

Reference to written article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/articles/ckgy772x527o#:~:text=In%20her%20BBC%20Sport%20column,and%20rivalry%20between%20the%20pair.

All blog subjects are identified, validated and written by the DDL Team. See www.ddlltd.com for more on Deception Detection Lab Ltd.