World champion Price knocks out Mateus in mismatch
World champion Price knocks out Mateus in mismatch
Briton Lauren Price successfully defended her WBA world title in a devastating performance on Saturday night.
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This video can not be played Jonas v Habazin: Natasha Jonas becomes two-weight unified champion in Liverpool Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price both successfully retained their welterweight world titles with wins in Liverpool to set up an all-British unification fight in 2025. Wales’ Price defended her WBA title by stopping Bexcy Mateus in devastating fashion before Jonas outclassed Ivana Habazin over 10 rounds. IBF champion Jonas, 40, added the WBC title to her collection to become a two-weight unified champion. The fight is being slated for March in London and the two women met in the ring once Jonas’ wide points victory was confirmed. After some fairly respectful initial responses to questions about a future fight, Jonas riled Price by saying: “Be careful what you wish for, be careful what you ask for.” Price, 30, replied: “Too young, too quick, too good,” before Jonas compared Price’s confidence to Terri Harper’s before they fought in 2020. That fight was a split decision draw and Jonas said Price was “not much better” than Harper. Price replied she was an Olympic champion, to which Jonas said: “When all the good people had left.” This video can not be played Boxing: Lauren Price knocks out Bexcy Mateus to defend WBA welterweight world title On the fight, the undefeated Price said it would be “massive” for the British public. “When I turned over as Olympic champion I wanted to be involved in massive fights,” she said. “It’s one hell of a fight for British fans and boxing in general.” In just her seventh professional fight, Price picked up a world title to become the first ever female boxing world champion from Wales. Her latest victory continues a remarkable sporting career which also includes four senior world kickboxing titles and representing Wales in football at international level. As for Jonas, she has won her fifth world title in just six bouts over three years and continues to enjoy a purple patch of form despite being in the final chapter of her career. Price v Jonas: Collision or confusion? Usyk v Fury 2 – all you need to know Relive Jonas and Price’s world title wins in Liverpool Lauren Price became the first Welsh world champion when she beat Jessica McCaskill in May 2024 Around 4,000 people were in attendance at the Exhibition Centre to witness what may be Jonas’ final outing in Liverpool as a professional boxer. It was Price who fought first on the night, dropping Mateus three times, all by her left hand, before the referee stopped the contest in the third round. The bout was in large a mismatch, as Price outclassed her Colombian opponent and sent a message to Jonas about her knockout power. The stoppage was just Price’s second of her eight-fight career. “With speed comes power, I enjoyed myself in there tonight,” she said. “I wanted to make a bit of a statement.” With that statement fresh in Jonas’ mind, the hometown hero brought her fans to their feet for her ringwalk. The crowd voiced their support with every shot Jonas landed, but there was not much between the two champions in the opening rounds. However, in the fourth round Jonas landed a big right hook and Habazin wobbled backwards in the ring. Jonas followed up, unloading punches on her opponent and looking for the finish but Habazin recovered well. The Liverpudlian continued to be aggressive through the fight, landing some powerful right hooks but they didn’t seem to overly phase the Croatian. Jonas showed her class in the closing rounds, handling the attacks well by Habazin and countering with some impressive movement and punches as she saw the fight out. After the final bell the scorecards by the judges read 99-92, 99-91, 100-90 all in favour of Jonas. Price’s performance may make her the slight favourite, but Jonas once again demonstrated her class and experience. Price was Wales’ first female boxing world champion when she won her world title in May Jonas turned 40 during the summer, but has won all her world titles in the last three years Price is yet to lose a round in her career so far Price may be a slight favourite if she and Jonas fight after her knockout performance Boxing schedule and results 2024 Watch every Born to Brawl episode Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser Reddy’s first Test ton gives India hope in Australia Where are all the English managers? 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