Natasha Jonas vs Lauren Price weigh-in drama as coach points out issue with scales

Natasha Jonas’s coach claimed the scales were not properly calibrated at the weigh-in for Friday’s title fight against Lauren Price.

At the Royal Albert Hall, Jonas will put her WBC and IBF welterweight belts on the line, while Price enters the iconic London venue as WBA champion.

Both women made weight on Thursday (6 March), with Liverpudlian Jonas tipping the scales at 146lb, while Wales’s Price came in at 145lb. The fighters were in fact under the 147lb limit, which Joe Gallagher put down to an issue with the scales.

“I’ve just been on [stage],” said Jonas’s coach. “Yes, I’ve got the certificate, the sticker’s up there on the screen: they were calibrated on 9 January. We’re here in March. 9 January??

“Them scales, boxing-wise, [should be] put there and calibrated right here, right now, today – and they [shouldn’t] move. They’re not [to be] calibrated at a hotel and transported. Once them scales have moved, they’re not calibrated no more, and the sticker on it is 9 January.

“Everyone that weighed in went there light. And listen, I’m only protecting Natasha. When I hear Price is struggling with weight, I’m thinking: ‘Okay, they’re light because it’s the main event and they wanted to make the weight.’

“Someone’s just come to me and went: ‘Well, Natasha was [146lb].’ Yes, but she weighed in with all her clothes on, because we know the scales are light. If she’d stripped down, she’d have been [145lb]. But the point is: you’ve got this huge, prestigious event, and we can’t get a set of proper, calibrated scales. Yeah, they’ve made the weight, but they’re not calibrated.

“I know people will say it’s me kicking off again, but we’re talking about world-title level. Can you imagine, hypothetically, [Manny] Pacquiao vs [Floyd] Mayweather [in 2015] – I’m not saying it’s like that – or Claressa Shields, and there weren’t calibrated scales in America?

“And the board will turn around and [say] they’re happy; of course they are. But I’ve got to be careful here, because I’ll get fined. [They] haven’t abided by the rules. They’re not calibrated. No one can produce a sticker that’s stating today’s date for them scales.”

Gallagher was referring to the British Boxing Board of Control, the commission for Friday’s fight card. The Independent has contacted the board for comment.

Friday’s event will feature only women’s fights, with Jonas vs Price headlining. Earlier in the evening, Price’s partner Karriss Artingstall will box Raven Chapman, while WBC lightweight champion Caroline Dubois is also in action.