Image source, BoxxerImage caption, Lauren Price (right) improved her professional record to 10-0 with victory over Stephanie Pineiro
A bloodied Lauren Price dug deep to beat Stephanie Pineiro on points to retain her welterweight world titles in Cardiff before calling for a future fight with Claressa Shields.
The 31-year-old picked up a terrible cut in the fifth round against the previously unbeaten Puerto Rican.
Price rallied to fight to the final bell and was rewarded with a unanimous decision on the scorecards.
After the fight, American Shields - who has held 15 world title belts across five weight divisions - stepped into the ring to face off with Price.
"This girl stood in front of me is one of the best in the game," said Price.
"We all need dance partners, we've both got Olympic gold medals, let's do it.
"This is why I'm in the game, I want to fight the best. Credit to Sheilds - I respect her - but I back myself!"
Shields said the location of any fight would have to be discussed but hinted at a meeting between the two stars at the end of 2026 and said the bout would be at middleweight.
"When you are an Olympic champion you are a special fighter," said Sheilds.
"Me and you have talked online and me and you can make it happen, you did great tonight .
"No disrespect to you, you've got a little bit of time. I've got one more fight and then we can fight at the end of the year."
Price has spoken often about staging a future fight at either the 33,000-seat Cardiff City Stadium or Principality Stadium, which can hold almost 80,000 fans.
In Shields, Price could face the calibre of opponent who would merit such a step up in venue.
Shields, also 31, currently holds the IBF, WBC, WBF and WBO heavyweight world titles and has a professional fighting record of 18-0.
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Previously, Price has cruised through fights but against the previously-unbeaten Pineiro - who had promised to shock the Cardiff crowd - she was made to work for her win.
Price expected the "kitchen sink from round one" and Pineiro immediately looked to start the fight on the front foot.
The 35-year-old landed her share of punches in the opening two minutes and did not look out of her depth in her first professional fight outside of Puerto Rico.
However Price was far more dominant in round two, using speed to her advantage against her significantly taller opponent to land a string of clean punches.
The left eye of Pineiro looked visibly bruised and swollen to begin round three and three more right hooks from Price added to the damage.
But Pineiro proved she was there on merit in the middle rounds, turning in a composed fifth round during which Price's lip was heavily split.
Undeterred, Price took things up a gear in the sixth and seventh rounds, finishing each with a flurry of punches which left Pineiro looking off-balance.
Two relatively uneventful rounds followed, though the damage on both fighters' faces was becoming more and more apparent.
Knowing a knockout was likely needed, Pineiro pressed forward in the 10th and final round, but it was Price who continued to land the more significant strikes while cheered on by the majority-Welsh crowd.
The judges scorecards told the story, as Price was declared the winner to a rapturous applause with scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92.
With a super-fight now in Price's sights, her promoter Ben Shalom said the Welshwoman could be the number one pound-for-pound female fighter on the planet by the end of the year.
"It's only a matter of time. To become the number one fighter in the world, you have to box the number one fighter in the world," he said.
Image source, BoxxerImage caption, Gully Powar (left) and Rhys Edwards went the distance at the Utilita Arena
In the co-main event of the evening, Rhys Edwards and Gully Powar could not be separated in the British featherweight title fight - with a majority draw verdict coming down from the judges.
Penygraig's Edwards started the brighter and picked up the first couple of rounds after landing quick counter right hands and utilising the jab effectively.
Powar grew into the contest from that point and was the busier fighter throughout, throwing more punches than the Welshman in every round.
Both fighters lifted their arm at the end of the 12th round, each corner believing the belt was theirs.
The first judge's scorecard went the way of the Wolverhampton fighter 115-114, to the delight of Powar's travelling fans who made their voices heard in south Wales.
However, the two other judges scored the contest 114-114, resulting in a majority draw.
The pair - who were far from friendly in the week leading up to the fight - showed great respect for one another at the bell and both vowed to have a rematch following the decision.
"I knew it was a tight fight, he's a very good fighter. I respect him and we go again," said Edwards.
Powar responded: "Rhys is a great fighter but I think I won the fight.
"I was relentless the whole 12 rounds, I didn't let him breathe but let's do it again, I'd love to do it again."
Elsewhere on the undercard, there were wins for Welsh quartet Mikey O'Sullivan, Jacob Robinson, Kyran Jones and Morgan McIntosh while Ireland's Teo Alin upset hometown fighter Kane Shepherd in the only defeat for a Welsh fighter on the night.
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