Lauren Price 'the lucky one who got away' primed to become a Welsh legend

Lauren Price calls herself the lucky one. She is one of Wales’ most decorated athletes and is now primed to take the professional boxing world by storm.

But her life could have gone a different way. When she was three days old, her parents decided they were unable to care for her. So her grandparents took her in and raised her. Eventually, Derek and Linda became her inspiration.

Reflecting on her childhood, she told ITV Wales: “I’ve got two sisters and a brother - sadly he passed away a few months back. I was brought up by my grandparents, who are two amazing people.

“If it wasn’t for them, I would have probably ended up in care. My brother and sisters didn’t have the best of upbringing.

“But I was the lucky one who got away and I was loved very dearly by two people. They’ve always supported me over the years. It cost thousands to send me away to tournaments.”

Growing up in Bargoed, Price was a sporting prodigy. In school, she cited three ambitions playing football for Wales, becoming a kickboxing world champion and going to the Olympic games. Tick. Tick. Tick.

She captained the Wales under-19s football team and earned her first senior cap in 2012. Price kickboxed alongside football and became a four-time world champion, before giving both up to focus on boxing.

“I wasn’t like a normal kid,” she smiles.

“I’d come home from school, have a nap and then I’d be going football training, getting changed in the back of the car.“I’d be going kickboxing. I’d train about four hours a night. Every night of the week, on the weekends".

Price continued: “My nan would be getting the flask of coffee ready, I’d be up in places like Tredegar, on top of the mountains playing football, it would be hail stoning and my nan and grandad would be there supporting me.

“I always had that support network. I had a lot of energy as a kid, so when I turned eight my nan decided I needed to go somewhere to burn it off and I fell in love with sport."

Price’s crowning moment to date came at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. She went in as favourite and delivered the goods.

It concluded an emphatic run of competition that saw her sweep golds at the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and European Games before conquering all in Japan.

Her early success has sparked wild excitement for what she could achieve in the professional ranks. But she’s not intimidated by the pressure her own success generates.

“I take it as a blessing that I’ve had that experience,” she explains.

“Going into the Olympic Games, I was the favourite to win gold, so I had a lot of eyes on me and expectations".

Lauren added: “I believe in myself, I know how hard I’ve trained and I know that if I have a good camp and perform on the night, then I’ll get the win.

”Some are even tipping her to enjoy similar success to that of Welsh boxing icon Joe Calzaghe.

“It’s a complete honour,” Price says of the comparison.

“Joe Calzaghe is one of the best to ever do it, not just being Welsh but in general.

“I want to follow in the footsteps of people like him. I want to be a Welsh superstar and get the country behind me. They love their sport and they support their own.

“Hopefully going into 2024, I’ll be boxing in Wales and headlining big nights.

“The pro game is a business and now it’s about making as much money as I can, enjoying my life, setting my family up and going on to become a Welsh legend."

Despite all she has achieved, Price has yet to box in her homeland. She started her pro career in the same emphatic style that she ended her amateur one.

The 29-year-old has won all six of her pro fights to date and has not lost a single round on any of the judges’ scorecards. That is a remarkable feat; now she’s targeting world title fights. And she wants them in her backyard.

She concludes: “Pro boxing is not that easy sometimes but we’ll see what happens. But I want to be boxing in Wales.

“All my life, as an amateur, I’ve boxed all over the world and it would be great for me to have my homecoming and have my fans there.

“Walk out to a Tom Jones song - maybe we can have him there to walk me out, who knows?”

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