Tensions threatened to flare as WBO women’s welterweight champion Sandy Ryan and former junior lightweight titleholder Mikaela Mayer both successfully made weight, setting the stage for their clash Friday night at Madison Square Garden’s Theater.

The ESPN+-streamed undercard begins at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT and includes the MSG debut of Vito Mielnicki Jr. (19-1, 12 KOs), who will fight Italy’s Khalil El Harraz (16-5-1, 2 KOs) in a 10-round junior middleweight battle.

Months of tension and heated buildup will be settled in the ring on Friday as Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer face off. The fight for Ryan’s WBO welterweight title takes place at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater and airs on ESPN+ in the U.

There’s little respect left between Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer — and not just because they’ll be fighting this Friday, when Ryan will defend her WBO welterweight title against Mayer.

Mikaela Mayer dethroned Sandy Ryan of her WBO welterweight title via a majority decision in New York on Friday. In a fight week full of tension, there were bizarre scenes hours before the bout as Briton Ryan was hit with a can of red paint as she made her way to The Theater inside Madison Square Garden.

Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs), of Doncaster, England, is moving down three divisions for this fight. The last time Harper fought as a lightweight was in March 2022, a unanimous decision victory over Yamila Belen Abellaneda.

Newly crowned WBO women's welterweight champion Mikaela Mayer has distanced herself from Sandy Ryan being covered in red paint ahead of their world title fight in New York. Ryan was making the third defence of her WBO welterweight title at the Madison Square Garden Theater,