Notebook: Price routs Jonas to unify three titles, calls for undisputed next
Hrgovic to replace Whyte; 2 new Matchroom cards; Ajagba-Bakole a go on Canelo show; ProBox TV appearance; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Lauren Price, who had a 10-year age advantage, routed fellow southpaw Natasha Jonas to retain the WBA women’s welterweight title and take the WBC and IBF belts from her in their three-belt unification fight that headlined an all-female Boxxer card on Friday — the eve of International Women’s Day — at famed Royal Albert Hall in London.
Price (9-0, 2 KOs), 30, of Wales, who was a 2020 Olympic gold medalist, won 100-90, 98-93 and 98-92 in a dominant display against England’s Jonas (16-3-1, 9 KOs), 40, who was the first woman to represent Great Britain in boxing when she competed in the 2012 Olympics.
“Stepping out here tonight, what a venue, we made history,” said Price, who knocked Jonas off balance at various times. “But I have to say thank you to Tasha. She’s a true legend.
“I knew that Tasha would be quick to start off so it was all about using my angles, my feints and speed. That’s what won me the Olympics and that’s what will get me to the top as a pro.”
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Price hopes to next meet the winner of the March 29 rematch between American WBO titlist Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and former titlist Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs), of England, for the undisputed title.
“100 percent I want the winner next to go back to Wales. The winner of that (fight) in Cardiff,” Price said. “Tasha’s the best in the division. I honestly believe I can become undisputed and I want to follow in the footsteps of Katie Taylor, Olympic and undisputed world champion.”
Jonas, a two-division titlist, who had won seven fights in a row, including a split decision over Mayer in 2024, made no excuses after the bout.
“Price was too fast,” Jonas said. “She just beat me to the punch every time. I was trying to land one big shot instead of putting the combinations together. I apologize for the performance to my family and friends, and my daughter, who is in the crowd. I hope I still made you proud.”
In the co-feature, Caroline Dubois (11-0-1, 5 KOs), 24, a British southpaw, retained the WBC lightweight title for the second time in a majority decision over mandatory challenger Bo Mi Re Shin (18-3-3, 10 KOs), 30, of South Korea.
Dubois, who appeared to dominate the fight other than a rough 10th round, won 98-92 and 98-93 and one judge had it 95-95.
Hrgovic to replace Whyte
When heavyweight Dillian Whyte suffered a hand injury this week and withdrew from a bout with British countryman Joe Joyce set to headline the first Queensberry card of its new deal with DAZN on April 5 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, the hunt was on for a new Joyce opponent. One has been secured in contender Filip Hrgovic.
According to sources with knowledge of the details, they have agreed to terms and the paperwork was being finalized.
Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs), 32, of Croatia, will be fighting for the first time since an eighth-round stoppage loss due to cuts against Daniel Dubois for the vacant IBF interim title in June in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs), 39, of England, has lost three of four and got knocked down in an upset unanimous decision loss to Derek Chisora in his last fight last July.
Joyce won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 2016 Olympics and Hrgovic claimed a bronze medal at the same Rio Games, although they did not fight each other in the tournament.
2 new Matchroom cards
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Friday two DAZN cards that will take place in England.
On the first one, junior welterweight Dalton Smith (17-0, 13 KOs), 28, the WBC mandatory challenger, who recently vacated the European title, will risk his position in the main event against Mathieu Germain (26-2-1, 11 KOs), 35, of Canada, on April 19 at Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield, Smith’s hometown.
On the second, British heavyweights Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen will meet in an immediate rematch on May 17 at the Copper Box Arena in London.
The Smith-Germain card will also include lightweight Josh Padley (15-1, 4 KOs), 29, of England, who just signed with Matchroom Boxing off taking a fight with WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson on four days’ notice, traveling to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and fighting valiantly before being knocked down three times in the ninth round and having his corner throw in the towel on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II undercard on Feb. 22.
The card will also include former two-time featherweight titlist Josh Warrington returning from a very brief retirement to fight an opponent to be named at junior lightweight. Warrington (31-4-1, 8 KOs), 34, of England, has lost three in a row and following his last fight in September, when Anthony Cacace scored an upset decision against, Warrington announced his retirement.
Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs), 26, and Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs), 32, will run it back after Fisher, the heavy favorite, got knocked down in the fifth round and was fortunate to escape with a split decision when they met on Dec. 21 on the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk II undercard in Riyadh.
“I’m excited to put on another great fight for the fans and win in even better fashion this time around,” Fisher said.
Allen’s take: “I’m excited to be getting another great opportunity. This time I will be bringing home the victory.”
ProBox TV appearance
I was invited by ProBox TV to participate in a panel discussion about the huge controversy of the ninth round of the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach fight that resulted in a draw. I joined a terrific group — ProBox TV regulars and former world champions Paulie Malignaggi and Chris Algieri, host Jimmy Smith, trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards and recently retired elite referee Jack Reiss. We had a really good discussion on the situation. Check out the video here:
Pro Boxing Fans appearance
I joined Pro Boxing Fans to discuss various boxing topics and here is the second part of that conversation. This one focuses on the upcoming Chris Eubank Jr.-Conor Benn grudge match and their recent press conferences, including Eubank smashing an egg in Benn’s face. Check out the video here:
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked three fights: the Kenshiro Teraji-Seigo Yuri Akui flyweight unification bout in Tokyo this coming Thursday; the junior middleweight bout between Keith Thurman and Brock Jarvis that is on Wednesday in Sydney, Australia; and the Arnold Khegai-Joet Gonzalez featherweight bout that is the main event of Saturday night’s ProBox TV card in Long Beach, California. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Heavyweights Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs), 30, a 2016 Nigerian Olympian fighting out of Stafford, Texas, and Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs), 33, a Congo native based in Scotland, were set to meet in an IBF title eliminator on Turki Alalshikh’s Ring magazine-branded card May 3 in New York’s Times Square. But when Bakole took a fight with WBO interim titlist Joseph Parker on three days’ notice and got knocked out in the second round in the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II co-feature on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, the fight was off when the IBF would no longer sanction it as an eliminator. Now it is back on but without the winner getting a mandatory title shot. It will take place May 3 in Riyadh on the Canelo Alvarez-William Scull undercard, Ajagba promoter Top Rank and Bakole promoter Boxxer said.
Albert Batyrgaziev (12-0, 8 KOs), 26, a 2020 Russian Olympic gold medalist, retained the WBA interim junior lightweight title in his first defense by unanimous decision over Cruz Romero (18-1, 10 KOs), 36, of Argentina, in the main event of an IBA Night of Champions card on Friday at Dynamo Volleyball Arena in Moscow. The southpaw Batyrgaziev, who won the vacant interim belt via ninth-round knockout of Ireland’s Jono Carroll in July, defeated Romero 116-108, 115-109 and 114-110 but had to survive two knockdowns in the third round, a flash knockdown on a left hook and another moments later from a right hand. Referee Guillermo Perez Pineda docked one point from Batyrgaziev in the fourth round for hitting Romero when he was down after slipping to the mat.
Welterweight Harlem Eubank (21-0, 9 KOs), 31, of England, who is the nephew of British legend Chris Eubank Sr., stepped up in opposition and stopped Tyrone McKenna in the 10th-round of the Wasserman Boxing main event Friday at Brighton Centre in Brighton, England, Eubank’s hometown. Eubank dropped McKenna (24-5-1, 7 KOs), 35, an Irish southpaw, three times — in the fifth, seventh and 10th rounds — en route to winning the fight that aired on free TV on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. On the undercard, featherweight Michael Conlan (19-3, 9 KOs), 33, of Northern Ireland, had his first fight since signing with Wasserman Boxing as he returned from a 15-month layoff and back-to-back horrendous knockout losses. The former WBA interim featherweight titlist outpointed Asad Asif Khan (19-6-1, 5 KOs), 31, of India, with referee Bob Williams scoring it 78-74.
Cruiserweight Sergey Kovalev (35-5-1, 29 KOs), 41, the once fearsome former unified light heavyweight titlist, who fights out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is headed home to his native Chelyabinsk, Russia, to fight April 19 on an IBA Night of Champions card. Kovalev is due to face former cruiserweight title challenger Artur Mann (22-4, 13 KOs), 34, of Germany, in a 10-round bout. Kovalev ended a two-year layoff in May and took a beating from Robin Safar on the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk I undercard in Riyadh. Safar knocked him down in the 10th round to punctuate a lopsided decision.
Bantamweight Manuel “Gucci Manny” Flores (20-1, 16 KOs), 26, a southpaw from Coachella, California, dominated Jorge Leyva (18-4, 13 KOs), 23, of Mexico, en route to a fourth-round knockout in the headliner of the “Golden Boy Fight Night” card on DAZN on Thursday night at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, Flores’ home region. Flores, who won his fifth fight in a row, dropped Leyva in the third round and finished him with a picture-perfect left hook to the body in the fourth that dropped him for the count at 55 seconds.
Most Valuable Promotions announced that it has signed bantamweight Alexander Gueche (7-0, 5 KOs), 19, of Long Beach, California, who was a two-time amateur national champion. Gueche drew the attention of MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian when he boxed as an unsigned fighter on the company’s Most Valuable Prospects cards. “Joining MVP is a huge milestone in my career, and I’m ready to use this platform to take the next step towards bigger challenges in the ring,” Gueche said. “With MVP standing behind me, I’m more determined than ever to step into the spotlight and earn my shot at a world title.”
Lightweight Dzmitry Asanau (9-0, 4 KOs), 28, of Belarus, will face former European champion Francesco Patera (30-5, 11 KOs), 31, of Belgium, in the 10-round main event of the Eye of the Tiger card on April 10 (ESPN+) at the Cabaret du Casino de Montreal in Montreal. EOTT announced. In the co-feature, Montreal’s Mary Spencer (9-2, 6 KOs), 40, will make her first defense of the WBA women’s junior middleweight title against former featherweight titlist Ogleidis Suarez (31-5-1, 15 KOs), 37, of Venezuela.
Show and tell
Through the years there have always been so-called disrupters in the boxing business. Currently, that title falls to Turki Alalshikh and the Saudis, with their money and influence, and the announcement on Wednesday of the formation of a new promotional company with UFC president and CEO Dana White as the face of the business. A decade ago, however, the great disrupter was Al Haymon, who founded Premier Boxing Champions and, using hundreds of millions of dollars in hedge fund money, bought time on eight networks in the hopes that they could score a hit and the networks would eventually flip the script and pay PBC for content.
It didn’t quite work out with only Fox eventually doing a small rights deal that did not last very long. But when PBC kicked off there were several notable fights available either on free television or basic cable and an extremely robust scheduled. In fact, PBC’s original slogan was “free boxing for all.” I still have the notebook and T-shirt. Anyway, PBC’s first event was a big one with no expense spared. The first card aired live on NBC in prime time with then-WBA welterweight titlist Keith Thurman handily outpointing Robert Guerrero in a highly entertaining fight. The telecast also featured the popular Adrien Broner breezing past John Molina for a lopsided decision in a junior welterweight bout and Abner Mares dropping Arturo Reyes en route to a decision in their featherweight fight. PBC’s historic first card took place on March 7, 2015 — 10 years ago on Friday. Here is my ringside credential in my collection.
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Photos: Price-Jonas: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer; Hrgovic: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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Joyce is simply too slow (and kinda dumb). Whyte would have annihilated him. That was gonna be an easy bet to make. Hrgo is also pretty slow and dumb so it’ll be even for a while but I think Joyce gets knocked unconscious. Not just out… out out.
I was there. Superb performance by Price.