On Saturday, May 11, Olympic 2020 gold medallist Lauren Price (7-0, 1 KO) defeated Jessica McCaskill (12-4-1, 5 KOs) at the Cardiff International Arena, live on Sky Sports in the UK and Peacock in the U.S. It was a historic night for Price as she won the IBO and WBA welterweight titles on the Boxer Promotions card and became the first ever Welsh female boxing world champion.
Lauren Price Defeats Jessica McCaskill in Historic Night in Cardiff
Lauren Price vs. Jessica McCaskill Recap
Price started the better and quickly got in her groove, showcasing her impressive hand speed. Over the next couple of rounds, the Welsh boxer was first to every punch, landing some nice combinations with McCaskill struggling to deal with the hand speed of the Welsh fighter.
The American fighter continued to struggle – to land anything of note as Price let her shots go before pirouetting out of danger. The American continued to come forward, but the Welsh fighter was first to every shot and continued to dominate in her homecoming fight. Despite the unusual style of her opponent, Price continued to dominate through the middle rounds.
The domination continued, and due to a nasty eye injury sustained by McCaskill, the referee called a halt to the fight two seconds into round nine. The judges delivered their verdict, with the scorecards reading 90-82 x3, with Price crowned the WBO, IBO and Ring magazine welterweight champion.
Post Fight Quotes
In the post fight interview, the new world champion spoke on her feeling at becoming the first female Welsh boxing world champion:
“I’m speechless. Coming out to the ring tonight, the atmopshere has got to be up there with winning the Olympic gold medal.”
“I know I had a tough fight, credit to my opponent…and I believe this is just the start.”
“I want big nights, I want to create a legacy, I want to go on and create greatness.”
“I’m only going to get better, this is my seventh professional fight and I’m still learning.”
“You see what Katie Taylor has done for Ireland, I want to do the same for Wales.”
“The dream is, in a few years, I’d love to be selling out the Principlaity Stadium.”
Undercard
Rising featherweight star Rhys Edwards (16-0, 4 KOs) put in a career-best performance to defeat Thomas Patrick Ward (34-2-1, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision, with the judge’s scorecards reading 98-92 x2 and 99-91
Hughie Fury (28-3, 16 KOs), in his second fight back after a lengthy spell of inactivity, defeated the brave Patrick Korte (21-4-1, 18 KOs) by second-round TKO in their heavyweight contest.
Mark Jeffers (18-0, 5 KOs) defeated Darren Johnstone (8-1, 2 KOs) in their super middleweight bout with a brutal fifth-round KO.
Prelims
Kyran Jones (10-0, 1 KO) won comfortably on points against Lewis Howells (3-1, 0 KOs) with the referee scoring the bout 59-54, with Jones knocking his opponent down in round one.
Kane Shepherd (5-0, 2 KOs) extended his 100% professional record as he defeated Ishmael Ellis (14-9, 0 KOs) as the corner of Ellis decided to withdraw their man after three rounds.
Moses Jolly (9-0, 6 KOs) defeated Amine Boucetta (8-13, 0 KOs) 60-54.
Lewis Edmondson (9-0, 3 KOs) defeated Joel McIntyre (20-9, 5 KOs) 80-72.
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