Mikaela Mayer believes the next step forward for women’s boxing is three-minute rounds.

Mayer is calling for the women’s code to be on level footing with male fighters.

“When you don’t allow women to go three-minute rounds, you are holding back the evolution process,” she said.

“At this level, that extra time would separate the good from the great. It would be way more decisive of a win and you’d get to see true champion rounds.”

Women’s boxing has boomed in the last year, with Mayer at the forefront of the movement alongside the likes of Claressa Shields, Savannah Marshall and Katie Taylor.

Not only are championship fights different, but men always compete in three-minute rounds regardless of the number of rounds, women always compete in two-minute rounds.

Boxing governing body the WBC have always opposed a change in round length, citing “safety concerns”.

The WBO have expressed an openness in the past to consider it. American star Shields has suggested 12, two-minute rounds should be considered first, but like world champion and Mayer’s direct rival Alycia Baumgardner, believes women should be paid more if they are expected to fight for longer.

Mayer, 32, began thinking more seriously about a potential change since losing her WBO and IBF super-featherweight titles to now unified champion Baumgardner in October.

It was a close fight, with one judge scoring a victory for Mayer. The American says she had a gameplan, but after losing a split decision, is convinced the two-minute rounds held her back.

“Alycia was always going to come out strong for the first three, and then she’s going to slowly fade,” she said.

“We had a really good strategy, and I guarantee if we had three-minute rounds you would have seen me really close that gap on the scores.”

Scoring adheres to a system, but often fans and fighters are frustrated by the subjective nature of judging. Mayer thinks two-minute rounds make close fights difficult to score.

Irishwoman Taylor’s epic against Amanda Serrano in April is another example. It was also a close-fought encounter that ended as a narrow split decision win for Taylor.

Mayer not only thinks her fight with Baumgardner would have been more decisive, but fans would see better clashes as a result of longer rounds.

“When you’re just getting into the rhythm of the round, ding, the round is over,” the Californian said.

“It’s breaking the fight up too much. You’re just feeling it out, starting to see your opponent’s gaps, you have them hurt on the ropes and all of a sudden they call time.”

“I just feel like it’s holding us back and taking us to that next level,” she added.

Baumgardner a ‘once in a lifetime rivalry’

Mayer is hopeful she can be at the forefront of pushing for three-minute rounds and that her next encounter with Baumgardner, should it happen, can be contested over three-minute rounds.

The former Olympian is eager to be in the biggest fights, and even mentions undisputed lightweight champion Taylor as a potential future opponent.

But Mayer admitted her loss to Baumgardner has left its mark on her. She wants to “redeem” herself.

“She’s saying no rematch. She doesn’t want to do it,” Mayer said. “But I think that you only come across a rivalry like this once in a lifetime.”

Baumgardner, the WBA, IBF and WBO super-featherweight champion, will fight Elhem Mekhaled for the division’s undisputed crown on 4 February in New York.

Mayer plans to put herself in the frame to fight the winner by facing another top contender, like Belgian Delfine Persoon.

“There could be a situation where Baumgardner has to fight me again,” Mayer added.

Baumgardner is promoted by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom. Their first fight was promoted by Boxxer and shown live on Sky Sports.

Mayer says she is prepared to fight under Matchroom’s banner to make the rematch with Baumgardner happen.

“Any promoter would be stupid to turn a blind eye,” she insisted.

“It’s in her court, she’s the champ. If the fight happens soon it’ll be because of Eddie Hearn, not because of Alycia.

“Because you know Alycia wants to run around town with her belts and enjoy being champ.”