British IBF welterweight champion Natasha Jonas will meet Croatian WBC champion Ivana Habazin in a women’s 147 lbs unification fight on December 14. Their bout will headline a Boxxer card at the Exhibition Centre in Jonas’ home town of Liverpool.
Natasha Jonas (15-2-1, 9 KO’s) last fought in January of this year when she recorded a dubious win over current WBO welterweight (147 lbs) champion Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KO’s) from the United States. Surprisingly, Jonas was unable to land a fight for almost a year until Boxxer’s confirmation of an upcoming unification fight with WBC 147 lbs champion Ivana Habazin (23-5, 7 KO’s).
According to the information provided by Boxxer, a victory for Jonas will pit her against WBA champion and fellow Boxxer fighter Lauren Price (7-0, 1 KO’s) for another unification fight. It has not been revealed whether Habazin would get the same opportunity, though this is not surprising given the Croatian champion is not signed to the British promotional outfit.
Curiously, Jonas made remarks about her inactivity in a recent interview with Talksport and indicated she had been anxious to get in the ring rather than being without a fight for roughly 11 months:
“It’s just a relief. I’m too old [and] it’s just too long out the ring,” Jonas stated to Talksport when asked about her feelings on being active again. “I did say I wanted this [year] to be my exit year, but it doesn’t look like it’s gonna be that.
“I want to be active and get the big fights, and this [upcoming bout against Ivana Habazin] is one of them.”
Natasha Jonas, currently 40-years old, indicated a desire to close out her career in the best way possible but seems to have been deprived of the opportunity due to her inactivity. This draws questions surrounding Boxxer’s ability to grant its fighters the needed bouts, as it falls on the promotions to provide their fighters with credible opponents that can generate plenty of profit for all parties.
With Jonas still contemplating retirement, it is likely she is two or three fights away from putting an end to her successful boxing career. A win over Habazin would allow her to face Price and gain the opportunity to win three titles. This could potentially help set up a much-anticipated rematch between Jonas―presuming she makes it past Habazin and Price―and WBO champion Mikaela Mayer following the controversy surrounding the result of their last fight.
In addition, the possibility of the potential Jonas-Mayer fight being for all four world 147 lbs titles―thus making it an undisputed fight―provides an exciting roadmap for Jonas to head into retirement as the undisputed champion of the women’s 147 lbs division.
