LONDON – Lauren Price and her promoter Ben Shalom are targeting an undisputed welterweight title fight, and are therefore preparing to travel to Las Vegas to be present at Mikaela Mayer-Sandy Ryan.
The Welshwoman, 30, excelled throughout Friday’s fight with Natasha Jonas at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where she unified the IBF, WBA and WBC titles.
If her performance and the one-sided nature of their contest suggested that, at 40, the time has come for Jonas to retire, it also established Price as the finest welterweight in the world.
Mayer and Ryan fight for the WBO title on the undercard of Brian Norman Jnr-Derrieck Cuevas on March 29, and regardless of who emerges as the winner – Jonas, incidentally, defeated Mayer in January 2024 – Price and her promoter see the value of a fight for all four titles. It may also prove relevant that, against Jonas, Price looked big at 147lbs, and may soon have little choice but to move up in weight.
“The big fights have to happen,” said Shalom, of Boxxer. “That’s the fight that we want, myself and Lauren – I think we’ll go over to Vegas in a couple of weeks and will be at that fight. We want to make sure that happens.
“Mikaeala had already said that if she wins she wants to become undisputed [champion]. That’s a fight that makes sense – that women’s boxing needs. Hopefully Lauren hasn’t done too much to scare everyone off [in victory over Jonas] and we can get that for her.”
“Ben knows – we had a chat,” Price said. “Even if it’s not next, [then] the fight after that or whatever. I definitely want to go back to Wales – when I fought [in May 2024, Jessica] McCaskill it was unbelievable, and it’s just going to get bigger and bigger. The journey continues, and it’s just going to grow. I’ve seen Katie Taylor and what she’s doing and feel like I can follow in her footsteps.”
Before Friday’s fight with Jonas, Price had won every round of her eight-fight career. On one scorecard she also won every round on Friday night – she was awarded victory via scores of 100-90, 98-92 and 98-93 – and Shalom, who also promotes Jonas, said: “It wasn’t nice to watch at times, because Lauren was dominating certain rounds, and I think she’s going to do that to a lot of fighters. A big thank you to Natasha Jonas, because without her we wouldn’t have had the stage that we had.”
“I knew she’d be quite tough to start off with,” continued Price. “As the fight went on I got my combinations off, and my speed was the main thing.
“I felt good in there. I enjoyed myself. As the fight went on, it got easier.
“That’s why I’m in the game. I want to be in the biggest fights. That’s what I train so hard for. That’s why I was so relaxed this week, because I’ve had a good camp. That’s where the confidence comes from. I want to go back to Wales – you’ve seen Katie Taylor, she’s got a nation behind her in Ireland – I’ve got Wales and I really feel like I can sell out stadiums. That’s the dream.
“Nothing beats an Olympic gold medal but [this was] definitely up there as something I’ll remember for the rest of my life – to headline at the Albert Hall. Muhammad Ali boxed here. It’s very special. The whole undercard – it’s been a great night. Women’s boxing, when you put on two great fighters, you can put on one hell of a card.
“Me and Tasha had a close fight, and Sandy and McCaskill had a close fight. I just boxed one of the best in the division in Jonas, and you’ve seen what I’ve done, so I believe in myself and I believe I’m the best. We keep climbing that ladder. I’m not being cocky. I live the life, and when you’re Olympic champion and done the amateur scene, you understand to even qualify for the Olympics, how hard it is. I know it’s a different game. [But] my feet got me to the top, in the amateurs, and my speed, and they’ll get me to the top in the pros.”
Price is trained by Rob McCracken, who oversaw Jonas’ amateur career, and whose influence and sense of timing no doubt contributed to Friday’s contest being made.
McCracken, similarly, also recently guided to Galal Yafai to victory over Sunny Edwards when, as with Price before her fight with Jonas, questions were being asked if his fighter was being tested at the top of his weight division too soon.
“Natasha’s been a brilliant professional, and still is – a brilliant professional world champion,” he said. “She’s still a top fighter. But I’ve said it for a long time – Lauren’s an exceptional boxer, and nobody wins what she’s won unless you’re super talented, driven, and exceptional.
“Lauren’s an exceptional boxer. She knows what she’s doing every second of every round; [she] probably gave Natasha a little bit of time to recover early in the fight, but when she started to go through the gears…
“Natasha started to come on the front foot and was just walking into – round four, five, six – combinations. She was just getting pelted at them from the angles Lauren was creating. That was the biggest thing in the fight – the difference between them.”
