Wales’ Olympic champion Lauren Price writes for BBC Sport to discuss Natasha Jonas’ world title defence against Mikaela Mayer on Saturday.
Price will be ringside for the IBF title fight as she continues her campaign to fight the winner. Jonas is a slight favourite in her home city of Liverpool – but as a former unified world champion at super-featherweight, Mayer comes with a similar championship pedigree.
Can Jonas continued her remarkable run or will American Mayer produce a memorable away win?
Natasha Jonas against Mikaela Mayer is going to be a huge fight and I think it’s incredibly tough to call who is going to come out on top.
I have so much respect for both fighters, even though I’ve been pretty vocal – and will continue to be so – about the fact I want to face the winner.
They both come from an Olympic background like myself and they have both worked so hard to be in a position like this, headlining a big show in a big boxing city like Liverpool.
I arrived here on Wednesday and you can tell there is a real buzz about the fight and that’s fantastic. It’s two female fighters headlining a massive show.
I see this as a real 50/50 fight. I can make a case for both boxers and I expect it to be really, really close.
I just lean a bit towards Jonas, because I think home advantage can be absolutely massive in a close fight like this.
Jonas is the naturally bigger fighter – Mayer is boxing at 147lbs for the first time and that could be a big factor. There are still questions about her at the weight because she’s coming up, so you never fully know what impact that will have.
You would expect Mayer to cope with the hostile crowd – she’s boxed here in the UK in her past four fights – but the noise of the crowd in a close fight can make a big difference and this fight is one that I suspect is going to go the distance.
I really respect Mayer, but there just seems so much for her to overcome: This is her first fight at 147lbs. She’s fighting in her opponent’s backyard and she also has to deal with Jonas’ southpaw stance, which can be a difficult thing to adjust to.
I think Jonas is going to come out on top on points, but I think it could be an extremely close decision and a very tough fight.
