Dsalita Two months ago, WBC mandatory welterweight challenger Ivana Habazin’s team won the purse bid to stage a fight with unified champion Jessica McCaskill, scheduling the bout for April 20th in Habazin’s native Croatia. It now appears that “CasKilla” has other plans, as the Daily Star’s Chris McKenna reports that McCaskill now intends to battle Lauren Price in Cardiff on that same date.
Per Jake Donovan, McCaskill (12-3-1, 5 KO) will “likely” have to give up her WBC belt to make this swerve, leaving her with just the WBA title.
I’m not going to argue that Price (6-0, 1 KO) isn’t a much, much more interesting opponent than the game-but-limited Habazin (22-5, 7 KO), but stringing Habazin along for two months and then deciding “never mind” seven weeks from fight night is a dick move on McCaskill’s part. Between baselessly accusing Matchroom of faking Alycia Baumgardner’s failed drug test, needing appallingly bad judging to steal a draw against Sandy Ryan, and now this, she’s done very little to endear herself to the boxing world of late.
As for Price, the Tokyo gold medalist made her pro debut in 2022 and racked up four fights last year, the most notable a one-sided technical decision over former title challenger Lolita Muzeya on September’s Smith-Eubank 2 show. This is a big step up in class for her, but her pedigree and McCaskill’s recent form make this a very winnable fight on paper.
