Lauren Price Retains Welterweight Titles, Calls Out Claressa Shields

Lauren Price left the Utilita Arena in Cardiff with all five of her welterweight world titles intact and blood still drying on her chin, immediately turning her attention to one of the biggest fights available in women's boxing: a showdown with Claressa Shields.

Price needed all ten rounds to see off undefeated Puerto Rican challenger Stephanie Piñeiro Aquino at BOXXER's "Awaken The Dragon" event, broadcast live and free on BBC Two and streamed on DAZN. The unanimous decision victory, with judges scoring the bout 98-92, 98-92 and 99-91 in Price's favour, was the hardest test of her professional career. A brutal mouth injury opened from the fifth round, leaving the 31-year-old Newport native bloodied through the contest's second half, though the scorecards reflected her sustained control throughout.

Both fighters entered with unblemished records: Price at 10-0 and Piñeiro, ranked third in the world by The Ring magazine, also at 10-0 with three knockouts from her ten fights. The 35-year-old from Bayamón, Puerto Rico had warned ahead of the contest: "I've had the hardest camp in my life and I'm really focused. I've studied her and got obsessed with this fight." It proved an accurate self-assessment. Piñeiro pushed Price harder than any opponent has since the Welshwoman turned professional in 2022.

With the WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine belts secured in the first defence of her unified titles, Price's post-fight focus shifted immediately to Shields. BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom has already opened talks with the Shields camp, and Shields confirmed her appetite for the matchup on social media, writing: "We both won Olympic gold medals." That shared credential gives the potential meeting a narrative weight unlike anything else in women's boxing. Price won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games, outclassing China's Li Qian in the middleweight final in what was Team GB's 22nd gold medal of those Games. Shields won at London 2012 and again at Rio 2016. A fight between them would likely be made at 160 lbs, the weight class that made both champions.

Price has made no secret of the scale she envisions. "I want to create a legacy for Wales and I want to be selling out stadiums," she said ahead of the Piñeiro contest. "This is why it needs to start now." Cardiff's Principality Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium have both been discussed as potential venues, and Price has invoked the Taylor-Serrano rivalry as a benchmark for what the fight could become. Shalom has targeted the bout for approximately ten months' time. Price herself put a similar timeframe on it: "The thing with Shields, probably looking at that fight, maybe 10 months' time."

The path to Shields runs through a crowded landscape. Price has also been offered a fight against WBO welterweight champion Mikaela Mayer, which would complete an undisputed run at 147 lbs, and a bout with Irish icon Katie Taylor. Both have been reported as live options for later in the year.

Price's amateur career brought Olympic gold, the 2019 World Championship title, gold at the 2019 European Games, and the 2018 Commonwealth Games crown before she turned professional. She unified the welterweight division as recently as March 2025, defeating Natasha Jonas by unanimous decision at the Royal Albert Hall. The win over Piñeiro marked the first defence of those titles.

An MBE holder and one of Britain's most decorated sportswomen, Price is building toward something specific. If the Shields fight lands at the Principality Stadium, it would represent exactly the legacy-defining night in Wales she has spent her professional career working toward.