Lauren Price dismissed Natasha Jonas’ jibe at her Olympic medal winning effort.
Rival world champions Jonas and Price fight for the IBF, WBC and WBA welterweight world titles at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday, live on Sky Sports.
Price was an Olympic gold medallist at the Tokyo Games in 2021, but Jonas was not intimidated by that accolade.
“When all the good people had left,” Jonas said of Price’s Olympic win.
“You might have the credentials on paper, but when it comes to the professional ring, I don’t think she’s had that.”
Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price exchanged heated words after both were victorious in Liverpool
While Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall had turned professional by the time Price won her middleweight gold medal, the Welsh star still had to overcome a roster of elite opponents to reach the top of the podium in Japan.
At the Tokyo Games, Price had to beat boxers like Atheyna Bylon (a World champion and Olympic silver medallist), Nouchka Fontijn (an Olympic silver medallist) and Qian Li (gold medallist at Paris 2024).
Responding to Jonas’ barb, Price told Sky Sports: “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
Price, who also won World, European and Commonwealth Games gold medals as an amateur, said: “At the end of the day she’s only saying that to try and get under my skin. It’s not going to work. It’s all she’s got really.
“To get to the Olympics and to stand on top of the podium, there’s no easy way, there’s no easy route. Even to qualification, even to get there. So she’s chatting a bit of rubbish there.
“I respect her. She’s an Olympian,” Price added of Jonas. “I respect anyone who gets in the ring. but you look at my amateur background, most decorated amateur to come out of GB, I am going to have people who envy me a little bit.
“I don’t take any notice of that. I focus on what I’m good at, at what I can achieve. And she can think what she wants.”
Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price shared a frosty face-off at the press conference for their world title unification at Royal Albert Hall on Friday March 7
Price is convinced that she will rise to the occasion against Jonas.
“I enjoy being under the lights. Some people don’t like it. I love it. Don’t get me wrong, the training’s hard but night’s like that, under the lights, when you win and you get your hand raised, it’s special,” she said.
“I feel like I haven’t really been tested tested yet. I feel like Tasha brings another level out of me, if I’m honest.
“But I believe there’s so much more to come from me.”
She is expecting Friday’s fight to be a milestone in her professional progression.
Lauren Price showed she was a class above Bexcy Mateus and detonated a big left hand to end the fight
“We talk about the night – it’s going to be historic. But the opponent Jonas is, the name that she is, I believe it makes me bigger in and outside of the ring,” Price said.
“So I’m excited for that. I feel like it’s a turning point in my career as well. But it’s a fight that I know I’m going to win well. I’m just too good.
“I talk about my legacy, greatness, and it’s a stepping stone to getting there with this fight. It’s a massive fight. A massive British fight and it starts March 7.”
Watch Natasha Jonas fight Lauren Price at the Royal Albert Hall live on Sky Sports on Friday March 7.
