Lauren Price is coming to Liverpool on a mission. When she fights Bexcy Mateus on December 14 she intends to lay down a marker for rival world champion Natasha Jonas.
Jonas headlines at the Exhibition Center this Saturday in an IBF and WBC welterweight world championship unification against Ivana Habazin, live on Sky Sports.
Also on the bill Wales’ Price will be making the first defence of her WBA welterweight title against Colombia’s unbeaten Mateus.
Victory, Price is convinced, will lead her to a showdown with the Jonas-Habazin victor next year.
“Them big fights are coming in 2025, definitely,” Price told Sky Sports. “I’m not looking past this girl. I’ve had a great camp. I’ve been in camp for a long time and all I do is look to put on a show, then move on to bigger and better.”
Price, an Olympic gold medallist, beat former undisputed champion Jessica McCaskill to win the WBA belt. That proves that despite only being seven bouts into her pro career, Price can mix with the best in her weight class.
“People doubted me on that. They said it was too soon for her. But I dealt with that and she was one of the best in the division,” Price said of the McCaskill fight.
“I always believed in myself. Even to the fact that people said: ‘I thought you would drop a few rounds.’ I didn’t see it like that.
“I can use my speed, I can use my skill, I can use my feet. And when someone’s moving and feinting, it’s hard to be the aggressor. Because when they start missing early on, it gets harder for them and it gets easier for you to pick your shots as the rounds go on.
“I’m not big headed at all, I just want the big fights. I say I’ll fight anyone and I genuinely mean that,” she added. “If it was up to me, me and Jonas wouldn’t have other opponents, we’d be fighting each other in December. It is what it is. I get it. I get the pro game, it takes time.”
Her time should be coming soon, as long as she makes no slip ups against Mateus this Saturday.
“Game. Raw. Wild. Tough,” was how Price described her next opponent.
“Unorthodox sometimes, but you’ve just got to be on your game. You’ve just got to stay disciplined. It’s a massive thing in this game, staying disciplined, staying composed, round by round winning and getting the job done.
“I’ve faced bigger girls. I’ve been in there with every single style. I’ve just got to focus on me and what I’m good at and getting the job done. Using my skill, using my speed and I believe I come out on top.”
She is having to bide her time as she waits for the prospective fight with Jonas, but believes her rival is making a mistake by leaving that clash for next year. Price warns that she’s only getting better.
“I haven’t stopped learning. I’m adding stuff to my game all the time. You’ve got to be able to box, you’ve got to be able to fight. You’ve got to be able to do a bit of both. It’s coming together,” she said.
“I’m not fully finished yet. I’m still learning. But at welterweight I believe I can beat them all. I believe who I am now as a fighter, I’ve got the skill, I’ve got the speed, I’ve got the strength to win those fights. I believe in myself, my team believe in me.
“If you call yourself a world champion, you’re a world champion, then you should fight anyone.”
In 2025 she’ll be coming for them all, including new WBO welterweight champion, American star Mikaela Mayer.
“I like Mayer a lot and to be honest, out of the whole division, I think she’s the best (of them). That’s a fight that can definitely happen as well,” Price said. “Those are the big fights that I want.
“I’ve shown I can be up there and mix with the best with beating McCaskill the way I’ve done. Throughout my pro career I haven’t dropped a round. It’s the right time and that’s what I want.
“I’ve still got things I want to tick off. I want to create a legacy. I want to box in Wales again, I want to become undisputed champion, I want to be a multi-weight world champion. I suppose I’ve just got to be patient. In time those big fights will come.”
Watch Jonas vs Habazin and Price vs Mateus this Saturday live on Sky Sports
