Ryan says member of Mayer’s camp hit her with paint can ahead of fight

English boxer Sandy Ryan accused Mikaela Mayer, her opponent in a title bout Friday night in New York, of orchestrating a pre-fight stunt in which Ryan was hit by a paint can as she left her hotel earlier in the evening.

Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) lost her WBO welterweight title to Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) by majority decision, with the judges scoring the bout 95-95, 97-93 and 96-94.

The leadup to the fight at Madison Square Garden was deeply personal for both, as Ryan had been working with Mayer’s former longtime coach Kay Koroma. Mayer parted ways with Koroma when he decided to work with Ryan, a move she saw as a betrayal.

As Ryan left her hotel for the venue Friday, she was struck by an open paint can from an unidentified man. She said she felt something “smash” into her stomach, and then saw a man in a hoodie run to a car and drive away. Ryan was uninjured and continued on to the venue after changing clothes in her hotel room.

She and her team told ESPN they believed it was a member of Mayer’s camp, an accusation Mayer has denied.

Ryan said afterward that the paint can incident had an effect on her in the fight.

“It unsettled me at the start,” she said. “Walking to the venue, I was shook up. And then it threw me off a bit of my game plan because I just wanted to fight.

“You seen at the start of the fight, I was handling her quite well on the jab. I was boxing her and then I started to pick it up. But then, I was obviously pushing it too hard.”