Lauren Price says unification against Natasha Jonas is her goal if both win on Dec. 14.
Lauren Price and Natasha Jonas both return to the ring this coming Saturday in Liverpool to defend their welterweight titles in fights they’ll be heavily favored to win, and Price says that she wants Jonas next time out.
“I want the Jonas fight next. If it was down to me, there’d only be one female fight on this card, and it’d be me and her. But that’s not down to me. There’s politics and other reasons behind that,” she told Sky Sports.
“But I’m led to believe, whoever wins that fight between her and Ivana, I want next. I believe Jonas gets the win. It’s a massive fight for the British fans, an old school British dust-up.
“I respect Tash, who she is as a person and what she’s done for boxing. Not just women’s boxing, boxing in general. But she’s got titles, I’ve got titles. When I turned (pro), I wanted to move fast. I’ve got dreams and ambitions, I want to become undisputed. I want the biggest fights and that’s it.”
Price (7-0, 1 KO) has moved fast since winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and defeated Jessica McCaskill handily this past May to claim the WBA welterweight title. At 30, her ambition to be the clear top dog at 147 is clear.
Price will face Colombia’s Bexcy Mateus (7-0, 6 KO), who is something of an unknown quantity, on Saturday in Liverpool.
The 40-year-old Jonas (15-2-1, 9 KO) is pretty obviously in the latter stages of her career, but still an obvious top fighter at welterweight. She’ll be defending her IBF title against Ivana Habazin (23-5, 7 KO), a solid veteran who will be putting her WBC belt on the line, as well.
The winner against Price could, then, be a three-belt unification, which would leave only Mikaela Mayer and the IBF title out of the equation. Mayer and that IBF title could be a roadblock for Price’s ambitions, too, as Jonas may see a rematch with the 34-year-old Mayer as a better option should she defeat Habazin on Saturday. Jonas controversially beat Mayer by split decision early this year in Liverpool.
Read the full article here
