Mikaela Mayer proved that nothing less than a title unification will be worth her time.

In a homecoming of sorts to defend her IBF and WBO women’s junior lightweight titles, Mayer outpointed tough but outmatched Jennifer Han in a lopsided 10-round contest at The Hanger in Costa Mesa, California, an hour away from Mayer’s home of Los Angeles, in the main event of an ESPN telecast.

It was almost a shutout, too. Judges Pat Russell and David Hudson both scored it 100-90, while Patricia Morse Jarman had it 99-91, all for the 31-year-old Mayer.

Han never had a chance.

Longer and taller, Mayer, who wore bright orange trunks, needed a couple of rounds to gain some familiarity with the awkward movement of Han, who is known to use every inch of the canvas. But once she caught onto her opponent’s rhythms, it was pretty much a wrap. Mayer applied smart pressure, worked behind a sharp jab and landed thudding right hands, while also digging hard to the body. Han, a native of El Paso, Texas, who displayed the South Korean and American flags on her trunks, in a nod to her heritage, fought valiantly but she was never able to threaten Mayer.

“I feel like I did a lot of good things in there,” Mayer said afterward. “Her movement, I think, is what she does best and it throws you off. She gets her spacing in a little bit, so I had to throw her off and stay behind the jab. Coach Al [Mitchell] reminded me to stay behind the jab, set the right hand up. She would duck sometimes and make me miss. I started to go to the body. All in all, she’s a tough, durable girl. That’s why we chose her for this fight. We knew she would push me, but I feel like I did well.”

“I wanted to get the stoppage,” Mayer added. “I feel like I hurt her in the eighth round, almost finished her. This is another reason why I’m advocating for three-minute rounds.”

Mayer, fresh off of signing a new multi-bout agreement with her longtime promoter Top Rank Inc., reiterated that her priority is to unify her division. Currently, the other titlists are Alicia Baumgardner (WBC) and Hyun-Mi Choi (WBA). Politics, however, may get in the way of that desire.

Cognizant that she may not get either Choi or Baumgardner – both of whom are aligned with promoter Eddie Hearn, who works exclusively with the streaming platform DAZN – anytime soon, Mayer suggested she would be willing to move up in weight and face the winner of the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 135-pound undisputed title match April 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“I’ve been pretty clear that I want to go undisputed at 130. Baumgardner and Choi, I’ve been calling them out,” Mayer said. “I want [either] fight, but if they’re not going to give me that fight in a timely fashion, I’m game to go up and challenge the winner of Serrano versus Katie Taylor.”

Mayer improves to 17-0, with 5 knockouts, while Han drops to 18-5-1 (1 KO).

The 38-year-old Han, ironically, had her most successful round in the 10th and final round, but the few punches she landed did not deter Mayer. At the end of the round, Mayer buzzed Han again with a booming right hand that let

Midway through the ninth round, Mayer and Han exchanged combinations, but Mayer, once again, landed the cleaner punches. With a few seconds remaining, Mayer noticeably hurt Han and tried to finish her off.

Mayer was clinical in rounds seven and eight, working behind her jab and unloading right hands on a skittish Han, who simply could not get close enough to land anything of note.

In the sixth round, Han tried to land her own overhand right, but she could never get close enough to actually inflict damage. Meanwhile, Mayer patiently stalked Han and continued to land her combinations. The two traded right hands to end the round.

After taking a beating in the previous round, Han tried to get back to using her legs. But Mayer would find Han again, drilling her with right hands. With less than 30 seconds to go, Mayer landed another flush right hand that twisted Han’s head back. Mayer wasn’t done. She ended the round by clocking Han with another slew of clean punches.

A barnburner broke out in the fourth round – in Mayer’s favor. After absorbing a rally from Han, Mayer fired off a furious combination that caused the nose of Han to start bleeding like a runny faucet. Mayer followed up with body shots and hard right hands.

Later in the round, Mayer trapped Han on the ropes and unleashed another combination. Han returned to her corner, her face in bloody tatters.  

In the third round, Mayer began finding a home for her overhand right hand. Han’s movement was noticeably slower.  

Han connected on a left hook, and flitted to the side. But moments later Mayer answered back with a hook of her own that momentarily stopped Han in her tracks. Mayer finished the round with a pair of straight right hands.

The stylistic differences between the two fighters were immediately evident in the opening round. Han jitterbugged around the ring as Mayer commanded the center of the ring and tried to whip hard punches to the body. Mayer returned to the corner with a cut around her left eye, the result of what appeared to be from an unintentional clash of heads.