The FightPost Top Ten British Female Fighters
Friday night’s historic Boxxer all-female card at the Royal Albert Hall has prompted quite significant changes to this ever-changing list.
Chloe Watson, in losing her European flyweight title to Jasmina Zapotoczna, slips out of the top ten and is replaced by Karriss Artingstall.
The former Olympic bronze medallist ended her extended ring absence by impressively and comprehensively outpointing Raven Chapman on Friday nights undercard. The new British featherweight champion has a ready-made rival in Skye Nicolson at world level. Artingstall holds a win over Nicolson from the Tokyo Olympics, and the hook of a fight between the pair for Nicolson’s WBC world featherweight title is obvious. Artingstall looks capable of being the first fighter to really test the unbeaten Nicolson in the professional ranks.
Caroline Dubois fought a lingering virus and the incredibly tough South Korean Bo Mi Re Shin at the Royal Albert Hall. The challenger kept advancing all night long and when Dubois started to fade somewhat in the final two rounds, the big upset looked a real possibility. But Dubois showed another side to her game. She gutted it out and passed another little test in the process. The kind of night and fight where you take the win and just move on.
Lauren Price was the biggest winner on Friday night. The unanimous and relatively comfortable points victory over Natasha Jonas has pushed her up to number two on my list. Price is probably one of those fighters that doesn’t quite get the recognition that she deserves. The win on Friday night over the two-weight world champion should change that. On the evidence of last night, Lauren Price will take some beating.
Chantelle Cameron is still deservedly in the number one position. But Price is now a real threat to her. With Cameron contemplating a move up to welterweight, it does throw up a possible meeting with Price at some point in the near future. Cameron is searching for a big-name opponent, and if Price can’t secure a fight for undisputed status before the year ends, a match-up between Price and Cameron would tick many boxes.
Natasha Jonas will now enter one of those critical phases where she will decide over the coming weeks if she walks away from a sport that she has graced for well over a decade. At 40, it’s difficult to see where she goes from here. A fight with Chantelle Cameron might satisfy both for different reasons. But there is every chance Jonas will decide enough is enough. In truth, she has nothing left to prove. Or achieve.
Sandy Ryan has her much-anticipated rematch with Mikaela Mayer later this month, and if she gains revenge over her bitter rival and regains her WBO world welterweight title in the process, Ryan will once again enter the top five. An undisputed fight with Lauren Price could also be on the horizon.
Nina Hughes also gets her chance of revenge this month when she again travels to Australia to fight Cherneka Johnson with the WBA world bantamweight title on the line. A make or break fight in many ways for Hughes.
If we are looking at fighters who could potentially force their way into the top ten, then the winner of the upcoming British and Commonwealth super-flyweight showdown between Emma Dolan and Lauren Parker could be that fighter, especially if Nina Hughes loses her rematch against Cherneka Johnson. Tysie Gallagher is another fighter who could make that breakthrough this year. Gallagher takes on Ebonie Jones with the British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight titles on the line in May, on the same Doncaster card that Terri Harper makes the first defence of her WBO world lightweight title that she took off Rhiannon Dixon last September. Dixon, currently nursing a foot injury, will look to return at super-featherweight later this year.
The FightPost Top Ten British Female Fighters
1: Chantelle Cameron
2: Lauren Price
3: Ellie Scotney
4: Natasha Jonas
5: Caroline Dubois
6: Sandy Ryan
7: Terri Harper
8: Karriss Artingstall
9: Rhiannon Dixon
10: Nina Hughes
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