Lauren Price is the new WBA welterweight champion following a comprehensive victory over Jessica McCaskill in front of her home fans at the Cardiff International Arena.
McCaskill could not go on after the doctor withdrew her before the ninth-round could get underway, but it had been one-sided.
It was announced that the doctor had been summoned after two seconds of the ninth round but because the injury came from a headclash it went to the scorecards and Price won by three scores of 90-82.
She is now 7-0 (1 KO) while Chicago’s McCaskill is 12-4-1 (5 KOs).
Price delivered on her potential and has never looked better, and there is likely much more to come. She is the first Welsh female boxing Olympic gold medalist and their first female boxing world champion
The now ex-champion had been greeted by chants from the Welsh crowd of, ‘Who are ya? Who are ya?’ in a hostile arena and in the ring she was greeted by the sharp-shooting Price.
And while southpaw Price is known for her skills, the former Olympic gold medal winner planted her feet and showed she was prepared to trade leather with the American by the end of the second session.
McCaskill, 39, found it hard to pin Price down. The skilful Welsh fighter, trained by former middleweight contender Robert McCracken, boxed smart, moving in and out to land shots and then countering McCaskill when she tried to get in close.
The champion was also bleeding on her scalp, and while she was trying to get Price involved more, they bumped heads several times and in the fifth, after another clash, McCaskill’s left eye started to balloon up.
It was an ugly swelling and in the corner they tried to contain it with the enswell to make sure it did not start to droop into her eye.
Price’s speed of hand and foot dominated proceedings and McCaskill started to look frustrated. Through the sixth, very little of anything McCaskill had done had worked, and if she managed to get close, Price would briefly claim her, pivot, let her hands go and the pattern began again.
Trainer Rick Ramos told McCaskill before the seventh that referee Michael Alexander was not going to stop Price from holding, but the official did stop the fighters and warn them to tidy things up in the seventh. Price was possibly at her best in the last 30 seconds of the seventh, she was boxing well, landing shots and McCaskill was unable to retaliate.
McCaskill survived a doctor’s inspection of the swelling at the start of the eighth but the damage around that left eye meant she took several Price right hooks that she just couldn’t see coming.
McCaskill’s spirit never wavered. She kept marching forward, but Price was in charge and when the doctor, Neil Scott, inspected the ugly swelling before the ninth round, he told referee Alexander the fight should be stopped.
By the end, the left eye was almost completely shut, and on its way to Fernando Vargas vs Shane Mosley proportions, deteriorating by the minute.
Price thanked her support, and said: “I know I had a tough fight tonight. Credit to my opponent Jessica. I respect her and the way she’s been with me. She’s a credit to boxing, and I believe this is just the start. I want to create a legacy. I enjoyed myself in there tonight. I’m only going to get better. It’s my seventh professional fight. I’m still learning.”
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