Olympic Boxing: Lauren Price faced her most challenging opponent to date during her most recent bout in Paris.
On March 11, the Welsh boxing champion returns to the French city where she won one of her most significant victories, one that put her on the path to eventually winning the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games.
In that fight, Russia’s enormous Zemfira Magomedalieva was charging across the ring at Price, focusing almost entirely on destroying Price with knockout blows while paying little attention to technical boxing.
The 2021 European Olympic qualification event final was taking place. Magomedalieva, who had dropped from light-heavyweight, was the world champion in the weight division above. Price, who had transitioned from welterweight to middleweight, was dwarfed by her in comparison.
The Russian stayed in the warm-up area, smashing pads with her trainer after both had won their semi-finals the day before. Price heard it reverberating across the hallway in addition to seeing it.
She was “really smashing the pads,” Price said to Sky Sports. “She was laughing and staring at me when I thought, “Bloody hell, she can bang.”
The meaning was obvious. One of the hardest punchers in the division, if not the hardest, was Magomedalieva.
Nonetheless, Price is unfazed. She had already won gold in the middleweight division at the European and World Championships at that point. Later that summer, the Welshwoman would take home the gold at the Olympics.
Price knew she was superior even though Magomedalieva might have been bigger. Therefore she made advantage of her qualities. Even when Magomedalieva raced at her, she moved, using her speed, footwork, and technique to her advantage, popping the Russian with flush, accurate punches.
“Towards the end, she starts sprinting at me since she couldn’t get a hold of me. At the Olympics in Tokyo, she also won bronze “Recalled price. She was simply coming for me, I don’t believe she was even in her stance half the time.”
The fight was well won by Price. That match put an end to a tense competition in France. As a result of the pandemic’s limitations, this was their sole competition to qualify for the Olympics. Karriss Artingstall, Price’s partner and GB teammate, had to win a last-minute box-off to secure her spot in the Tokyo Games.
“That was extremely nerve-racking with Karriss. She was the last team member to leave. Because she was the last and everyone else had qualified, it was much more nerve-wracking,” explained Price.
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