Welterweight Lauren Price easily outpointed Natasha Jonas to settle their domestic rivalry and become a unified world champion in a changing of the guards moment for women’s boxing at the Royal Albert Hall.
The 30-year-old’s speed, sharpness and youthfulness was too much for veteran Jonas, who struggled with her timing over 10 rounds in the main event of an all-female card in London.
Liverpool’s Jonas, 40, cut a deflated figure at the final bell, in contrast to the exuberant celebrations of Welshwoman Price.
The judges scored it 98-93, 100-90 and 98-92 to the Welshwoman.
Any doubts on Price’s elite-level credentials and ability to handle the occasion were expelled by a virtuoso performance which suggested the Newport-born fighter may well dominate the sport for years to come.
In just her ninth pro fight, the Olympic gold medallist retains her WBA title and captures Jonas’ WBC and IBF belts.
There is uncertainty surrounding Jonas’ career, though, as the fine run in the twilight of the Liverpudlian’s career is halted.
Jonas – a two-weight world champion – loses for the third time in 19 pro bout and suggested she could call time.
“It’s something I’ll look at when I go home,” she said.
A changing of the guards at the regal Royal Albert Hall
The raucous atmosphere was at odds with the regal 5,272-capacity auditorium, which has hosted British boxing since 1918 and was about 80% full.
The crowd, split quite equally between men and women, sat in plush, cushioned seats to enjoy the theatre of boxing.
Price, in all black, made her ring walk first to a huge chorus of boos drowned out by Welsh folk song Yma o Hyd, which blared out of a sound system.
The trailblazing Jonas – the first ever British female to box at an Olympics – rather fittingly entered to Extraordinary Being by Emeli Sandé and Beyonce’s Run the World (Girls).
In the dressing room before the fight, trainer Joe Gallagher drilled into Jonas how to deal with Price’s burst of punches, but ‘Miss GB’ struggled with her opponent’s speed from the outset.
Jonas was backed on to the ropes in the second, felt the power of a counter left, then stumbled when caught by a right.
Price bounced confidently on her toes and continued to assert dominance as Jonas missed wildly.
With her sister, footballer Nikita Parris, watching on with some of her England team-mates, plus TV celebrities including presenters Romesh Ranganathan and Stacey Dooley, Jonas began to let her hands go in the fifth.
The success was short lived. A sensational right hand sent Jonas’ head spinning in the seventh.
“You’ve got to throw some punches, love,” trainer Gallagher told Jonas. It all felt a little too late as the result became increasingly inevitable.
Those sitting in the second tier and gallery had a breathtaking bird’s-eye view of the action as Jonas hit the canvas in the ninth after a slip.
Price continued to pick Jonas apart until the final seconds.
More to follow.
