Natasha Jonas was pushed to the limit but retained her IBF welterweight crown with a razor-thin split decision victory over American rival Mikaela Mayer in a thriller in Liverpool.

Jonas started strongly in the first defence of the world title she won by defeating Kandi Wyatt last July but Mayer steadily grew into the bout and was the busier of the two in several riveting exchanges.

It was an all-action affair but, despite being left with a cut below her left eye, Jonas, who raised her arm aloft at the final bell, was given the nod 96-94 and 96-95 as a third judge sided with Mayer 97-93.

The result divided opinion on social media but, after Jonas extended her record to 15 wins and two defeats with one draw in her home city, she indicated 2024 will be her final year in the sport.

The 39-year-old has won six fights in a row since losing on points to long-time rival Katie Taylor in May 2021, becoming a unified world light-middleweight champion before stepping down to reign at 147lbs.

She told Sky Sports: “Unfortunately I can’t be around forever, this is probably my last year in boxing and we want to make it the best chapter of the book.”

A rematch against an opponent six years her junior, a former unified world super-featherweight champion who was fighting at welterweight for the first time on Saturday night, would surely be welcomed.

Jonas said: “She’s in the top two people I’ve fought, she’s a very, very skilled operator and her time will come again. She beats a lot of the champions that are already here.

“That little bit of fear factor brings out the best in me, I need opponents like her to tango. With no disrespect to the likes of Kandi Wyatt, I knew I would dominate and I was supposed to win.”

Mayer, who slipped to her second defeat in 21 fights, wants a chance at gaining revenge over Jonas.

She said: “I thought I did enough to win. I would have given her the first round or two but after that, I feel like I out-punched her and landed the cleaner shots. I think that fight is worth seeing again.

“I just hope Natasha will be the stand-up champ that she is and give me another shot at the belt – I feel like I deserve it.”

Natasha Jonas will consider facing Mikaela Mayer over three-minute rounds but believes more time in the ring should equate to greater financial rewards.

Jonas will defend her IBF world welterweight title against Mayer across 10 two-minute rounds at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on January 20, but her American opponent wants the contest to be be brought into line with the men’s sport.

Only a small handful of women’s fights have taken place over the longer distance and Mayer is hopeful their clash will be added to that list, stating that she has already made the request to promoter Ben Shalom.

Jonas will discuss the change with Shalom, who believes that shorter rounds lead to more explosive fights and therefore provide greater entertainment, but insists it could not happen without other issues being addressed.

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“It wasn’t ever something that was talked about. I presumed that it would be 10 twos because that’s what the fights are. There was never an option to do three minutes,” Jonas told the PA news agency.

“For me, three minutes is a good thing. I’m sure Ben might say something different. We’ll have the discussion, but there are a lot of other things involved – if we do longer rounds are we going to get paid more?

“It opens a can of worms. We want fairer pay. No one is saying we want equal pay, but it’s got to be fair and show that if you’re doing more rounds then you’re going to get more money. That would be a good thing.

“But the WBC said this week that they’re never going to change their rounds, so if I want to become unified champion then I’d have to do three minutes and then go back to the two. So it’s also about which belt you’re boxing for.”

Jonas returns to her native Liverpool after clinching two wins in Manchester with her hunger for the sport as strong as ever at the age of 39.

One of the driving forces for the first British women’s boxer to compete at an Olympic Games is to continue setting an example to her seven-year-old daughter Mela, who could attend one of her mum’s fights for the first time on January 20.

“I want to make her proud and show her that no matter how tough things are, if you work hard and don’t give up and you believe in yourself, then anything is possible,” two-weight world champion Jonas said.

“To be a good role model and the kind of person I needed when I was little that I didn’t see, other than young females in the sport and just girls in Toxteth in general.

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“She watches my fights at home and hasn’t been to one yet, but is umming and ahing about this one. I take her to boxing shows all the time and she’s like ‘oh mum!’

“I know how tough it is to keep her entertained from the start of a boxing show until the end, so to put that on to somebody else is a big ask and that’s why she doesn’t come to mine.

“It’s nothing to do with the actual fight and physicality stuff, it’s more to do with keeping her still and happy.

“Mummy boxes, that’s what she knows. She’s been through camps with me in lockdown.

“She’s always known that mummy boxes and mummy goes to the gym. She’s seen the whole picture now and she gets it.”