Beyond The Ropes: Karriss Artingstall

Beyond The Ropes: Karriss Artingstall

The Olympic bronze medallist Karriss Artingstall turned professional in 2022. She was making good progress. As 2023 closed out, Artingstall had seemingly found her groove after her five professional victories. A 2nd round stoppage over the Canadian Vanessa Bradford at the York Hall was impressive. Artingstall headed into 2024 with some real momentum and hopes of very quickly moving into the world title mix.

But it didn’t quite happen for her. One solitary fight in January wouldn’t have satisfied Artingstall. A tough learning fight against the tough Brazilian Lila Furtado in Liverpool was a decent start to the year. But we didn’t see Artingstall inside a boxing ring for the remainder of 2024. A year that the former Olympic medalist now calls a complete write-off.

But Karriss Artingstall will finally return in March on the latest Boxxer all-female extravaganza, in a fight that could propel her right into the world title conversation.

Artingstall returns to action at the Royal Albert Hall in London in a good old-fashioned all-British affair against the former world title challenger Raven Chapman. The name of Skye Nicholson will likely loom large over the fight both before and after.

Artingstall was on the last Sky Sports all-female card, which took place at the O2 Arena in London in 2022. But on March 7th, the second time around, Artingstall has a far more important assignment. Make no mistake, a win over Chapman would change everything for Karriss Artingstall. A fighter who you suspect should already be in consideration for world title opportunities. But despite the extended absence from the ring, at 30, Artingstall still has time on her side. But it is, nevertheless, a vitally important year for her boxing career.

Artingstall, who won medals at European and World level as an amateur, has become somewhat of a forgotten fighter over the last twelve months. The new calendar year would be a good place to start reminding people of her obvious talents. The pivotal fight with Chapman is a very good place to start sending out those reminders. A beyond-talented fighter with all the potential to reach the very pinnacle of her craft. Activity is all she needs. In many ways, there is certainly plenty to work with.

That victory over the current and unbeaten WBC world featherweight champion Skye Nicolson in the Tokyo Olympics is a nice little selling point for Artingstall. Outside of Amanda Serrano, who shows no interest in ever fighting Nicolson, you sense if anyone currently residing in the featherweight ranks could solve the great Skye Nicolson puzzle, it would be Karriss Artingstall. There is an obvious commercial angle in Nicolson and Artingstall running it back in the professional ranks. It’s a forgotten little rivalry. Now would be a very good time to start banging those drums again. Nicolson, of course, ended the unbeaten record of Chapman last year. If Artingstall can do it more emphatically, the sounds of rekindling that old amateur rivalry might be too loud to ignore. Although Raven Chapman will have plenty of motivation also. A win over Artingstall puts Chapman right back into the world title picture and a possible second opportunity at world title glory. All or nothing for both.

Artingstall will hope that she does see regular activity this year. A fighter who belongs in the upper echelons of her sport will hope that she can make up for lost time in 2025. A fighter that has gone under the radar for far too long. That could all change within the next twelve months. It could even come within the next two months.

Photo Credit: Boxxer