Lauren Price had no doubt when she mentioned Claressa Shields’ name that she would get a response.
The Welsh star Price, unbeaten after nine fights as a pro and already a unified welterweight champion, will box in front of her adoring Cardiff fans on Saturday at the Cardiff International Arena in her first fight since defeating Natasha Jonas on points a year ago.
She will meet Stephanie Aquino, an undefeated fighter from Puerto Rico, but many of the headlines this week will concern a future bout with the outspoken American Shields.
Asked whether she was surprised that Shields opted to engage on social media, Price said: “Yeah, of course she is, but that’s great. That’s what builds the great fight as well, isn’t it? I mean, regardless of chatting shit, it sells itself because you’re both two gold medal Olympic champions, and I think it’s a great fight whenever it happens.”
Price thinks they could meet at around 160lbs if it happens, and says she can’t let talk of Shields distract her.
“I always focus on what’s next,” said Price. “But you’ve got to have a plan, like, if you’re thinking – and I’m on that stage of thinking – I want to create a legacy for Wales and I want to be selling out stadiums. This is why it needs to start now. The thing with Shields probably looking at that fight, maybe 10 months’ time.”
While Price would like to do it at Millennium Stadium or Cardiff City Stadium, she talked of the possibility of “Taylor-Serrano and doing it more than once as well.”
The momentum of women’s boxing has varied in the recent past. There have been dizzying highs, but also frustratingly quiet periods.
“I don't think it’s just women's boxing – I think it's UK boxing,” Price explained. “I suppose we look at the Saudi stuff and stuff like that, it’s probably killed British boxing a little bit in terms of cards, but I wouldn’t just say females. But there’s massive fights still out there and I think even looking at the card the day after mine with Caroline [Dubois] and Terri Harper, that’s a good card, so there’s great fights out there. I just think, obviously, we need the opportunity and I think with everything going on with Boxxer last year [parting ways with Sky Sports], I’m looking to be able to be up and running this year now, obviously box on [Saturday], box again in the summer and be busy.”
It starts this weekend with Pineiro, a 35-year-old challenger who is 10-0 (3 KOs).
“She’s obviously a great fighter,” Price said. “She’s obviously dangerous. She’s game, she's tough, she’s big. She’s obviously done a bit as an amateur as well. She’d never boxed outside of Puerto Rico [as a pro], but at the end of the day, I know she’s going to come and she’s going to throw the kitchen sink at me. But I’ve been in there with every style. I’ve boxed at the highest levels, so I’m kind of focused on myself and I believe I get the job done.”
If that happens, of course attention will turn to Shields again, a fight that is perhaps helped now that both boxers are signed to promoters with DAZN contracts.
“Yeah, definitely,” Price said. “Obviously on DAZN, massive platform, there's eyes elsewhere. And, yeah, it's just an exciting time and I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’ve just got to keep winning and just keep doing what I’m doing and then big fights are going to happen and they’ll come.”
Price, 31, can see herself boxing for another five or six years.
Ireland’s great Katie Taylor turns 40 in July, and Price has no intention of being an active fighter by that age. Her goals are to make money, create a legacy and leave an imprint on Welsh sports, in a similar way to what Taylor has done in Ireland. And asked who is the world’s leading female fighter, Price picks Taylor over Shields.
“I’d probably say Katie Taylor, yeah,” she said.
By the time Price retires, will she have that mantle?
“I hope so – I’d like to,” she said. “She’s got Ireland behind her, I feel like my fan base is getting bigger, as well. I feel like I can create [something similar]. I know I’m good enough and I hope to do that. I’m expecting the roof to blow off [on Saturday], if I’m honest. As soon as I come out, everyone is excited. I did a meet-and-greet last week, meeting the fans and just having time with them, seeing the kids, giving a little bit back. I appreciate it so much because, if it wasn’t for them buying the tickets and spending the cash, then I wouldn’t be able to have my night.
“And I’m so grateful to go on this journey with them. They supported me my whole career, and I’m glad to be coming back to Wales to put on a show.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
