Ringside Report: Natasha Jonas Beats Ivana Habazin to Become the Unified Welterweight Champion of the World
It might not have been vintage Natasha Jonas, but it was more than enough to beat Ivana Habazin on Saturday night in Liverpool. A highly-likely farewell fight in her home city that saw her crowned a unified world welterweight champion.
Habazin couldn’t find what she needed on a tough night that saw her relinquish her recently won WBC bauble on a wide, unanimous points decision. All three judges scored it for the hometown fighter. The scores of 99-92, 99-91, and 100-90 were an accurate reflection of what we saw. From ringside, I gave the Croatian the opening round. A round in which Jonas struggled to find her timing.
But Jonas gradually shedded the ring rust that she had accumulated since her incredibly hard-earned win over Mikaela Mayer in January. After her slow start, Jonas started to pull away on the cards. The body work was effective. The right hand even more so.
Jonas perhaps lacked her usual sharpness, but her work was still far more classy than her opponent, who couldn’t find another gear to take Jonas into deeper waters.
‘Miss GB’ was in cruise control for the vast majority of the ten-round contest. The only real doubt was, would Habazin see the final bell? A big right in the 4th round visibly hurt Habazin. But the tough Croatian survived the mini-crisis. But her ambition seemed to wane from that moment. I thought Habazin was resigned to her fate from that moment on.
Natasha Jonas claimed the WBC belt to add to her IBF title and became a unified champion at a second weight.
Lauren Price, the WBA champion, who was immensely impressive earlier on the card against the over-matched Bexcy Mateus, will be next. A good old-fashioned domestic showdown that will further unify their division. Whoever wins early in the new year will surely face the American Mikaela Mayer for undisputed status at welterweight. The post-fight words when Jonas and Price met in the ring carried a little bit of spite and venom. That will only help sell the fight. FightPost is of the understanding it will be in London in March.
But for now, Jonas can enjoy her latest victory. A fitting fighting farewell in her hometown. Not so long ago, Jonas was at rock bottom, and her chances of winning a world title looked remote after those near-misses against Terri Harper and Katie Taylor. Now she has five. The Hall of Fame is undoubtedly in her future. A book of her life and career will surely follow. But Natasha Jonas believes there is another chapter or two to follow.
Photo Credit: Chris Dean/Boxxer
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