American unified women’s welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill has pulled an unexpected switcheroo as she changes opponent a month from her scheduled fight with Croatian contender Ivana Habazin. Lauren Price is now reported to become McCaskill’s opponent, which will result in McCaskill being forced to relinquish her WBC title and unified champion status as she will be left with only the WBA and The Ring belts.
With the WBC confirming the ordered bout last month between mandatory welterweight contender Ivana Habazin (22-5, 6 KO’s) and Jessica McCaskill’s (12-3-1, 5 KO’s) would proceed, the consequences for McCaskill as the holder of the WBC titles were clear; she would have to face her Croatian opponent or risk being stripped of her WBC title.
However, McCaskill has now pulled out of her fight with Habazin with Welsh contender Lauren Price (6-0, 1 KO’s) now reportedly set to become McCaskill’s next opponent rather than Habazin. Price will be fighting in the first world title fight of her young career, while McCaskill―who has been a world champion for longer than half her career, will be participating in her eleventh world title fight as she defends her WBA and The Ring titles.
In light of McCaskill blatantly avoiding her WBC mandatory, the WBC title is now expected to be vacated and made available for Ivana Habazin who will presumably continue to fight on April 20th against a suitable―and likely top 10-ranked―opponent. As Habazin’s promoter, Piranha, had won the purse bid proceedings to stage the McCaskill-Habazin in Croatia, Ivana Habazin is now in the rare position to become a world champion in her home country as she prepares to engage in her sixth fight.
Compared to Habazin, a two-time former world champion [if her IBO title win in 2018 is counted], Price seems to have been picked because of her experience, but common wisdom also suggests that McCaskill stands to profit more from fighting Price who is backed by UK-based media conglomerate Sky Sports through her promoter Boxxer.
In lieu of the aforementioned factors, it therefore seemed a more financially- and competitive-sound decision for Jessica McCaskill to opt to vacate her title to face Lauren Price rather than facing the more experienced Ivana Habazin.
The title fight between McCaskill and Price―an Olympic gold medalist, and a top contender despite having only had six fights as a professional―will likely be staged in the UK, though no date or location has yet been confirmed. The event, which the two are expected to headline, has been confirmed to be broadcasted by Sky Sports and promoted by Boxxer.
