Natasha Jonas: “After Habazin, it will be Lauren Price, and then I want Katie Taylor or Mikaela Mayer, and then I am done.”

Natasha Jonas: “After Habazin, it will be Lauren Price, and then I want Katie Taylor or Mikaela Mayer, and then I am done.”

You would think after Natasha Jonas edged past Mikaela Mayer in January, it would be the start of a long glorious goodbye. The final year in a sport that she has graced so wonderfully for well over a decade. But that just hasn’t happened. But it’s nothing new to the Liverpool fan favourite. It’s virtually a rinse-and-repeat from the previous twelve months.

“It’s not only this year that was frustrating,” Jonas told me over Zoom. “I fought in December 2022, and that was the best year I have had as a pro. I won three fights on the trot and built up all that momentum. But then I had to wait seven months for Kandi Wyatt. I understand that some of that was down to Liam Smith and the cancellations and whatever. But seven months is just too long. And then I had to wait another six months to fight Mikaela Mayer in January. It’s not just 2024, 2023 was just as bad. It’s just the wrong time to be getting these long layoffs. Mayer is by a million miles the best name on my record, but now we have to build back up again.

“I had dates for a fight. But the dates would always change. I had dates in May and in June. I had one in August and another in September, plus a date in November. But every time I would get close to one, it would change for another date.”

The rematch with Mayer seemed an easy win. An even easier make. It would have needed little selling. Both fighters were more than up for running it back. Every possible option was explored. A Queensberry card in London was one possibility. Top Rank were involved. Jonas had agreed terms. Money wasn’t an issue. Neither was Mikaela Mayer. It made sense for all parties. Or it should have. Apparently, common sense was missing from the negotiations. Ego has a habit of gatecrashing the party. However, in this case, that ego cancelled the party. Mayer moved on. Jonas had to sit and wait a little longer.

“I’m glad Mayer has gone and done her own thing. I’m glad she didn’t wait.” Jonas says of an embarrassing situation that should have ended differently.

It’s been beyond difficult of late for the reigning IBF world welterweight champion. A period beyond the ropes of stipulations, arguments, and more. Jonas wanting to go one way. Before being pushed and pulled in another direction. “I think you just get used to it,” Jonas said when I asked her if the recent round of seemingly never-ending backroom politics had affected her.

Her ever-loyal trainer Joe Gallagher has said in recent interviews that he has told Jonas to retire. “Joe has said that before,” Jonas says of that retirement suggestion. “I think he sees me going on holiday with the baby and thinks that’s better for me. I’m not happy having to fight for another year, but there is nothing else I can do. I still think I have got big fights left in me. I would hate to retire now and wonder what if.”

Jonas has previously said that boxing is an addition that is hard to let go of. Even at 40, when she could quite easily walk away with a resume to be extremely proud of and wait for the Hall of Fame to come calling, Jonas still retains that love for her craft.

“Despite everything, I would still miss boxing when I retire. I have that structure to my day, and that’s what I need. As much as I hate it at times, I know where I need to be. I need to be told what I am doing. I know the end is coming, and I need to fill that void.”

Jonas will finally end her recent hiatus this coming Saturday. A hometown gig against Ivana Habazin. The Croatian will put her WBC bauble on the line in a big unification showdown in that fighting city that Jonas calls home.

“I think she is ok,” Jonas says of her latest opponent. “Habazin will come forward, and she is aggressive. She won’t just come for the payday and rollover. She will have a go. But everything she does, I should do better.”

A win over Habazin will not only give Jonas her fifth world title, but it will likely push ‘Miss GB’ towards another unification showdown. Lauren Price defends her WBA welterweight title on the same Liverpool card. If Jonas and Price both emerge victorious, the two will further unify the welterweight ranks in March next year, potentially in London. But Jonas is only thinking of what’s directly in front of her.

“I did say to Sky that you pushing this a ‘Collision Course’ is a bit disrespectful to Habazin. And what if Lauren doesn’t win? How many times does it happen, so I am genuinely not looking past this fight. It’s so easy to do that.”

Jonas knows the final dance is near. In truth, it should already have come. But for many reasons, Jonas will fight on and if the pre-fight odds are correct and another world title comes her way on Saturday night, Price will be next, and then Jonas wants one of two fighters for her farewell fight.

“After Habazin, it will be Lauren Price, and then I want Katie Taylor or Mikaela Mayer, and then I am done.”

Photo Credit: Boxxer