LONDON – Lauren Price made her finest statement as a professional fighter when she dominated Natasha Jonas to unify the IBF, WBA and WBC welterweight titles.

The 30 year old from Wales, on the occasion of her ninth professional contest and the second defense of her WBA title, bullied a proven champion throughout at London’s Royal Albert Hall to dethrone her as the titlist of the IBF and the WBC, and to the extent Jonas is unlikely to ever again be the same fighter.

Of the three scores of 98-93, 100-90 and 98-92 in her favour, the widest was perhaps the fairest. Price possessed every possible physical advantage against her smaller opponent, and repeatedly exposed her limitations.

If it was tempting to conclude that Rob McCracken – Price’s trainer and the trainer of Jonas while Jonas remained an amateur fighter – had detected the time was right for Price to take her toughest fight, there remained the possibility that Jonas’ superior variety could expose Price’s relative lack of experience.

McCracken had recently and similarly matched Galal Yafai with Sunny Edwards and been rewarded by overseeing Yafai’s finest victory, and from as early as the third round Jonas-Price was following a familiar pattern.

Jonas, 40, swung and fell short in the opening round, and was then punished with a right hand to the chin that landed cleanly. Price was noticeably bigger – Jonas’ trainer Joe Gallagher had questioned the scales at Thursday’s weigh-in – and convincingly absorbed a left-right to the body before they exchanged flurries and Jonas again fell short, this time with a right-left.

Price landed a right towards the start of the second, and then backed Jonas up towards the ropes, at which point Price found the target with another right. She had an advantage in speed and she also appeared sharper – Jonas fell short with a left and was countered by that same speed – and already was gaining the appearance of a bully.

A left-right and then successive right hands stumbled Jonas before the second round’s conclusion, and in the third, even after a jab she threw was countered by a right hand, Price landed a jab before evading a left hand and watched as Jonas became hesitant.

Price, 30, landed another painful jab from her southpaw stance at the start of the fourth, and after she succeeded with a left-right and then forced Jonas to miss with the jab she increasingly made Jonas look her 40 years. 

Price landed another jab; Jonas fell short with an uppercut. Already the Liverpudlian was running out of ideas. 

When Price landed successive rights to the body and took a left while she swung for another right she then countered Jonas when the Liverpool fighter attempted the same move. Price emerged with the fifth round appearing secure. She was halfway to earning a more convincing victory over Jonas than the great Katie Taylor had earned in 2021; Jonas had never previously looked so out of her depth.

Price, an Olympic gold medallist at Tokyo 2020, had previously credited Jonas – Britain’s first female boxer at an Olympics at London 2012 – with helping to shape her future. 

While they shared a professional ring she was treating her with little more than disdain, however, and while Price was largely one-dimensional she had little need to make adjustments when her tactics would repeatedly succeed. She demonstrated as much again towards the start of the sixth round, when she landed a left-right-left combination and then backed her opponent up again with the jab.

Jonas missed the target in the eighth; Price caught her in response. Again Jonas was put off-balance by the strength of Price’s punching, and she therefore again missed the target.

It was in the ninth, Jonas landed another clean left hand as they traded but Price again absorbed her power seamlessly. There remained little wrong with Jonas’ punch resistance against such a physical opponent, but little else to give her any conviction.

Jonas required a knockout when they entered the 10th, and fought as though she recognized it was beyond her. She landed a jab but found herself again being backed up, and then perhaps landed her best punch of the evening in the form of an accurate left hand when Price was on her way in.

The scorecards, as much as they could ever be, represented a formality when the final bell sounded. Price added two further titles and, perhaps more relevantly, to her record the reputation of a respected fighter who had previously lost only twice.

Their fight headlined an all-female promotion at a celebrated venue, and did so on the eve of International Women’s Day. It also declared Price as a significant force at world level and Jonas, cruelly, as one who had declined and perhaps can only consider retirement.

“Price was too fast,” said Jonas, who fought back tears after the final bell. “I apologise to my family and friends, and my daughter [who watched from ringside].”