{"id":577301,"date":"2026-04-02T11:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/577301\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:39:07","slug":"lauren-price-i-want-to-win-as-much-money-as-i-can-build-a-legacy-for-boxing-in-wales-and-get-out-safe-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/577301\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren Price: \u2018I want to win as much money as I can, build a legacy for boxing in Wales and get out safe\u2019 | Boxing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year ago, on a historic night for boxing when an all-women card of fights was held at the Royal Albert Hall last March<\/a>, Lauren Price produced an imperious headline performance which should have led to a series of even more prestigious bouts. Her dominant display<\/a> in outclassing the venerable Natasha Jonas appeared to be the ideal launching for a new stage of Price\u2019s career as the IBF and WBC world welterweight champion.<\/p>\n

But when she finally steps back into the ring on Saturday night in Cardiff to defend her titles against Stephanie Pi\u00f1eiro Aquino, the little-known Puerto Rican challenger, almost 13 months will have passed since that high point. Only frustration and inertia have followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, 100%,\u201d Price says when asked if her exasperating absence offers an insight into the enduring mess of boxing politics. \u201cPeople on the outside don\u2019t understand but sometimes it comes down to your promoter, if they want to put you on, if the money\u2019s right, if the contracts are in place and legal issues are sorted out. There are a lot of things in the background.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price became Olympic champion in Tokyo<\/a> in 2021 but since turning pro more than three-and-a-half years ago she has had just nine fights. She did not lose a single round in her first eight contests, and nearly completed a shutout against Jonas. But it\u2019s been difficult for Britain\u2019s best female fighter to find decent opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s especially hard in women\u2019s boxing,\u201d Price says, \u201cbecause at the start of my career I got myself in that position where I fought Jessica McCaskill [the respected American whom Price beat in May 2024 to win a version of the world title]. I was fast-tracked and that was my seventh fight and I became world champion. You\u2019re then in a position where the people wanting to fight you are asking for lots of money so your promoters are like: \u2018Oh, that fight\u2019s not going to work.\u2019<\/p>\n

Lauren Price put on a superb display in defeating Natasha Jonas last March. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cOr if you want to fight for another belt that takes time and a conversation and it\u2019s not easy. Obviously you love to be active, but you\u2019ve got to realise that you\u2019re probably only going to get a payday once or twice a year. It is hard but it\u2019s part of the game \u2013 and because the pool of women boxers is small you see fighters moving up and down in weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price\u2019s situation was complicated by the fact that her promoters, Boxxer, were not offered a new contract by Sky<\/a> when their four-year deal expired last June. Boxxer and their founder, Ben Shalom, were in serious financial trouble as they tried to salvage the company\u2019s future. Trapped in a seemingly endless limbo, Price relied on Rob McCracken, her trainer since she was an amateur and a man used to the chaos of boxing politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole year was very frustrating,\u201d Price says, \u201cbecause I was in the gym in Sheffield, just ticking over. Everything was out of my control in terms of contracts and Rob said we can\u2019t really rush into anything. I listened because I trust Rob and he always looks after me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price explains that she rarely deals with Shalom. \u201cIt\u2019s an odd one,\u201d the 31-year-old says, \u201cbecause Rob has always dealt with John Wischhusen [the veteran matchmaker employed by Shalom to liaise with Sky and the boxers in an arrangement which has since soured and ended up in court]. Obviously John\u2019s not in the picture any more and we\u2019re dealing with a guy at Boxxer called Baz Arjo. Baz seems to have more of a business head \u2013 so we don\u2019t really deal with Ben.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the status of her current contract with Boxxer? \u201cI\u2019ve got three fights left but I\u2019ve said to them I\u2019m the kind of person that, if they back me and do a good job, I\u2019ll spend my whole career with them. I\u2019m not one of these people who wants to move madly. But, like Rob says, you need to know your worth and the main thing is building me up in Wales. I want to win as much money as I can, build a legacy for boxing in Wales and get out safe. But the bigger arenas and stadiums we can fight in, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018One thing I\u2019ve realised about the pros is you have got to be able to bite down on your gumshield and have a fight sometimes,\u2019 says Lauren Price. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Price fights Pi\u00f1eiro Aquino at the Cardiff Arena, which can hold just over 7,000 spectators, but the real boost for her is that Boxxer\u2019s promotions are now being screened by the BBC. Saturday\u2019s world title bout will be on BBC Two and she believes terrestrial television will strengthen her appeal. \u201cIt\u2019s great. The BBC have done a lot with me over the years, through the Olympics, and the older generation, who might not have Sky, can see me on a mainstream channel.\u201d<\/p>\n

There have been multiple examples in men\u2019s boxing of seemingly obscure Puerto Rican or Mexican fighters shocking their more vaunted British rivals with a mix of hard-bitten skill and tenacity. Price knows little about Pi\u00f1eiro Aquino, whose 10-0 record has been built entirely in Puerto Rico against local rivals, but she says: \u201cI think she\u2019s quite dangerous. It\u2019s hard to judge how good she is because her Puerto Rican opponents haven\u2019t been high-standard girls or they\u2019ve been two weight classes below. It looks like she is a toe-to-toe swinger. She\u2019s big, tall, game and tough \u2013 but nothing I haven\u2019t faced before.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve always got to adapt and that\u2019s the great thing about amateur boxing where you spend years travelling the world and come across different styles. But the one thing I\u2019ve realised about the pros is you have got to be able to bite down on your gumshield and have a fight sometimes. You\u2019re doing 10 rounds and you can\u2019t allow someone to walk you down.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be a seismic shock if Price doesn\u2019t win comfortably and, after such a long stretch outside the ring, she can\u2019t stop herself hinting that her career is about to be transformed. She grins when I ask if she is expecting to face Claressa Shields \u2013 the brash and brilliant American<\/a> who is currently the best female fighter in the world. \u201cWithout me saying yes,\u201d Price suggests as her smile widens, \u201cI think you\u2019re on the right page.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claressa Shields (left) is the top female fighter in the world and is a likely future opponent for Lauren Price. Photograph: Lon Horwedel\/AP<\/p>\n

Shields\u2019s perfect 18-0 record featured many world title bouts at middleweight. But she hasn\u2019t fought in the 160lb division for almost three years having moved up to light-heavyweight before becoming the undisputed world heavyweight champion. Before her most recent contest six weeks ago, when she easily retained all four heavyweight belts, Shields scaled 174lbs. At this Friday\u2019s weigh-in, Price will make the 147lb limit.<\/p>\n

It is an illustration of the scarcity of genuine rivals for both women that Shields and Price, despite being separated by 27 pounds, are so keen to fight each other. \u201cThere have been talks about a fight at 160 and obviously I said yes,\u201d Price says. \u201cThere are lots of conversations to have but they will happen sooner rather than later. Rob is dealing with it all and he has put forward 160 as the weight but we might go a little higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both definitely want the fight. If there\u2019s the right money, and maybe a belt on the line, Shields will fight anyone. I\u2019d love to fight against her because she\u2019s a great athlete, a fantastic boxer, but also one I\u2019m confident I can derail. I have the skills to do that and the story is great as well. She\u2019s a double Olympic champion [winning gold at middleweight in 2012 and 2016] and I\u2019m an Olympic champion at the same weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is Shields willing to fight her in Cardiff? \u201cI think the plan is for me to go to America first, and then come to Wales. Maybe we can have a trilogy. I\u2019d love that. But, in pro boxing, anything can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before then it is more certain that Price will get married. \u201cAfter the Jonas fight last year, on 7 March, I popped the question and Carla and I got engaged on 19 April in Wales. She\u2019s been in my life a really long time because I\u2019ve known her since we were in the same school. She\u2019s two years younger but she\u2019s a good girl. Carla\u2019s got her own business, caring for old people in terms of going to their homes, and she\u2019s very driven. She\u2019s thriving and it\u2019s nice to be with someone who is not part of boxing \u2013 so when I come home it\u2019s not just boxing, boxing, boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauren Price\u2019s long wait to step between the ropes ends this Saturday. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Is Carla anxious whenever Price ducks through the ropes? \u201cYes, she\u2019ll get nervous on fight night. That\u2019s normal. But even when I\u2019m making weight and I can be a bit grouchy and tired, she understands. She also knows that I have to be really focused because it\u2019s a short career so we won\u2019t have a honeymoon until the end of the year. But I fight on 4 April and then we\u2019re getting married on 30 May in Abergavenny, half an hour from our house. So I\u2019ve got time to get over the fight and I\u2019m really looking forward to the wedding. We\u2019ll have around 110 people in the day and a few more at night. It\u2019s not massive \u2013 just nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price has told me before<\/a> how her alcoholic parents gave her up when she was a baby \u2013 but how lucky she feels to have been brought up by her adoptive grandparents. Her nan is still alive and Price visits her in Wales whenever she is not training in Sheffield. \u201cNan is doing OK but of course she\u2019ll be nervous all week. She won\u2019t watch the fight on TV, because she finds it too hard, so she\u2019ll wait for a call from my auntie and then she\u2019ll be able to have her cup of tea and a KitKat to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing really to say about my biological parents. I don\u2019t think about them. My father\u2019s not here and when he passed away I was fine. I lived with my nan and grandad since I was three days old.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has her mother tried to contact her? \u201cNo, she\u2019s not very well. She\u2019s in a mental [institution]. I prefer to think about my amazing grandparents who took me in, loved me, and told me that no dream I have is silly. I\u2019m grateful to have been brought up with love. My nan is such a soft soul and I\u2019m also so grateful she\u2019s still in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the frustration of the past 13 months, 2026 could be a defining year for Price both personally and professionally. \u201cI believe that,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a busy year and let\u2019s get the ball rolling with a good win on 4 April and climb the ladder from there. I\u2019m just happy the fight\u2019s happening. You know how hard it is when there\u2019s no date. But now, with the wedding and maybe three fights this year, it\u2019s so much better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A year ago, on a historic night for boxing when an all-women card of fights was held at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-577301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}