Less than 48 hours before she headlines the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, IBF champion Natasha Jonas has revealed that she’s already signed the contract for her next title fight.
However, ‘Miss GB’ isn’t overly thrilled with the matchup or the narrative that’s been pushed in the media; something she was keen to drive home ahead of her homecoming bout this Saturday evening.
Natasha Jonas slams ‘disrespectful’ narrative despite already signing next bout
Natasha Jonas headlines this weekend’s Boxxer card in Liverpool against WBC champion Ivana Habazin, with long-term rival Lauren Price set to feature in the co-main event against Bexcy Mateus.
Whilst Jonas would much prefer to secure enormous rematches against either Mikaela Mayer or Katie Taylor, it appears as though her plans for 2025 have already been confirmed behind closed doors.
In what initially sounded like an accidental slip-up, Jonas revealed to Boxing News earlier today that she’s already signed the contract to fight Lauren Price next – despite both women competing in less than 48 hours’ time against different opponents.
“Yeah, it’s no secret that I’ve always said the Mikaela Mayer rematch was something we tried to work towards the Summer and the Katie Taylor fight is the one I’d love to bow out gracefully on… But Boxxer and Ben had other ideas, so now it’s contracted to fight Lauren [next].
“Again, let me just say that I think it’s disrespectful that everyone keeps pushing this narrative of me versus Lauren when we’ve both got fights [still] in front of us… I don’t know about her, but I’ve definitely signed up to fight her.”
It would be a shame if either Jonas vs Mayer 2, or Jonas vs Taylor 2 was blocked due to prior commitments with Price, with the Scouse superstar noting that the difference in name value is night and day.
“I just think that there are bigger fights out there for me, but obviously they [Boxxer] don’t agree. I think Mikaela Mayer brings that American audience, she’s got a profile over there and our last fight was close.
“Katie’s Katie; she’s a whole other entity within itself, so I just think them names were bigger for me to chase… [But] I’ve got to beat Habazin first – that’s all I’m focused on and whatever comes next, comes next.”
Natasha Jonas headlines the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool this Saturday night
Jonas has experienced an incredibly frustrating 2024, having wanted to end the year enjoying retirement; only for delayed contracts to force her hand and keep her active.
“It’s been frustrating, every time I feel like I’ve got momentum, it just doesn’t go anywhere, [and] I end up waiting a long time out the ring… It’s just far too long, especially for someone at my stage of their career.”
In a separate interview with ESPN, Jonas reaffirmed that if she had gotten her way in terms of matchmaking, she would have already hung up the gloves by now.
“When you have performances like I did against Mayer, you have to build on them. I’m too old to be inactive and an inactive Natasha is a dangerous one… I’m two fights or three fights away from retirement, I want to go out on a high and I want to go out on my own terms. I don’t want to have too many fights.”
Luckily, we’ll see ‘Miss GB’ back in action in less than 48 hours’ time; her showdown against Ivana Habazin will be available to watch via Sky Sports in the UK and via Peacock in the US.