Eddie Hearn has described as “criminal” the inactivity of Lauren Price since her victory over Natasha Jonas in March.
Wales’ Price, 31, established herself as a fighter of the highest calibre when she eased to victory over Jonas to unify the IBF, WBC and WBA welterweight titles, and to that end she has again since been targeted by Mikaela Mayer, who holds the WBO title and who on Thursday evening earned a unanimous decision over Mary Spencer at 154lbs.
In victory Price became one of Boxxer’s and their then-broadcaster Sky Sports’ greatest assets, but partly as a consequence of the conclusion of the agreement between promoter and broadcaster she has since remained inactive.
On the undercard that evening was also the 24-year-old Caroline Dubois, who defeated Bo Mi Re Shin in their WBC lightweight title fight, and Hearn – who recently capitalised on the uncertainty surrounding Matchroom’s rivals Boxxer to secure a promotional agreement with the light heavyweight Ben Whittaker – has questioned the direction of both fighters’ careers.
Mayer on Thursday recognised the potential complication involved in securing a date with Price when she spoke of the uncertainty that persists regardless of Boxxer since entering an agreement with the terrestrial television platform offered by the BBC and the reality that similar uncertainty surrounds the future of her promoters Top Rank, and Hearn told BoxingScene: “I nearly signed Lauren Price – very close – three years ago. I think she’s having a disaster, if I’m honest, at the moment. She’s in no-man’s land.
“She is one of the best, pound for pound, female fighters in the world. She’s not boxed since March. She’s not injured. We’re coming up to November. There’s a very good chance she may only fight once this year, which is criminal.
“I put Caroline Dubois, by the way, in the same bracket. One of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. She’s young. They’re both young – Caroline’s really young. She hasn’t boxed since March. It’s madness. But the problem is they’ve been paid a lot of money; contractually, they’re very expensive, and when you don’t have the budget or the rights’ fee…
“We’ve agreed a deal for Troy Williamson to fight Callum Simpson, so that will be Boxxer’s next show – Callum Simpson against Troy Williamson – and that will be November, December. You can’t put Lauren Price or Caroline Dubois on that undercard. It’s too expensive. So you’ve got to headline those fighters, but you don’t have the dates, so somehow you’ve got to try to be creative with someone or something to get those fighters out.
“You can’t have fighters sitting out for 10 months out the ring. That’s the difficulty.”
Hearn had previously confirmed that Matchroom had discussed a potential promotional agreement with Viddal Riley, the cruiserweight also once promoted by Boxxer.
