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When Lauren Price MBE headlines at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday night, she will write the latest chapter in a remarkable sporting story that started in Ystrad Mynach.

Lauren, 30, will take on fellow champion Natasha Jonas in a historic unification fight for three of the four main world welterweight championships.

Known as ‘The Lucky One’, she explained her nickname in the ring has little to do with boxing, instead paying tribute to her family and fortunate start in life.

She said: “That’s down to my grandparents, they took me in from three-days-old. I’ve got two sisters and a brother who are all older than me and my brother who sadly passed away two years ago.

“I was at his funeral and my sisters and brothers didn’t have a great upbringing and I said to my sister ‘I was the lucky one who got away’.”

‘A massive inspiration’

Lauren described her grandparents, Linda and Derek, as amazing people who “took me in, showed me love and told me to believe in my dreams”.

She said her grandparents made all sorts of sacrifices, spending thousands and travelling the world so she could compete in kickboxing tournaments.

In 2021, the first Welsh fighter to win an Olympic title dedicated her gold medal in Tokyo to her grandfather Derek who died a year earlier.

Lauren said her grandparents would watch her play football every week growing up, even with hailstones hammering down on the mountainside.

“A massive inspiration in my life,” she said of them. “And I’m grateful because if it wasn’t for them – God knows what route I would have gone down – I wouldn’t have achieved anything like I have today.”

Lauren paid tribute to other important role models including Melanie Davies and Grant Davies, her PE teachers at Heolddu Comp, and Rob Taylor, of Devils Martial Arts.

‘I never forget’

She also thanked the community in Ystrad Mynach for its support, saying: “It means the world, I never forget where I’ve come from. I love my roots, I’m proud to be Welsh.

“They blew me out of the park when I come back from the Olympics – the whole village was full. And still now, like I’ll go to Tesco or I’m running through Ystrad and there’s people stopping cars, tooting to me when I’m outside my house loading my car.”

Lauren said: “You’ve got Mags the barbers opposite my nan’s house, she’s a massive supporter, she’s always getting posters around, you’ve got Phil Morris on Facebook….

“You’ve got Susanne, from the Veg of Evans shop, as well; John the butcher, he’s always there giving me free turkey at Christmas – it’s a great community and I’m very proud and grateful to be from there.”

Lauren reflected on how far she’s come: from boxing in a little ring at the Beech in Gelligaer and kickboxing at Ebbw Vale leisure centre. On Friday March 7, she will perform at a world-famous venue opened by Queen Victoria more than 150 years ago.

‘Honoured and proud’

She said: “When I think back, that’s what’s got me to where I am: grassroots, little small hall shows. Even going to amateur tournaments in Serbia and you’ve got buckets everywhere as there’s rain coming in the ceiling.”

Friday’s bout takes place on the eve of international women’s day at a venue where the suffragettes held rallies as part of the fight for women’s right to vote in the early 1900s.

The prizefighter called for an opportunity to compete in Saudi Arabia, which has hosted high-profile boxing events in recent years but only a handful of women’s fights so far.

Lauren suggested women’s boxing has come on leaps and bounds in recent years: “Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot more to be done and [that] can improve, but where we are right now and where it’s going: I think it’s great for women’s boxing.”

She said: “It’s massive and I know there’s people going who’ve never even watched a boxing match before but because it’s an all-female card … everyone’s up for it. It’s great for the sport and I’m honoured and proud to be headlining it.”