After demolishing Vanessa Bradford in a way no one has before, Karriss Artingstall sent a message to the rest of the division; Artingstall welcomes fights with Raven Chapman and Skye Nicolson, warning: "People will soon know who I am when I’m beating their favourite fighter"
Monday 23 October 2023 17:20, UK
Karriss Artingstall sent a message to the featherweight division with her demolition of Vanessa Bradford.
Artingstall tore through the former world title challenger in their bout on Saturday, blasting her across the ring, dropping and rocking the Canadian with one-punch power as she stopped Bradford in just two rounds.
For context, Bradford had gone the distance with Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner before they became world champions. She challenged Hyun-mi Choi for the WBA super-featherweight world title, going the 10-round distance there too.
She had never been stopped, until she faced Artingstall.
In short the British featherweight delivered a statement, and bigger fights lie ahead.
"When I'm boxing, I believe I'm an absolute nightmare in that ring and I believe I'm very, very hard to beat. Especially on a good day. I don't see how someone beats me when I'm on top form. So that's all I need to do, just do what I'm good at. Good luck to them trying to beat me, it's not going to happen," Artingstall told Sky Sports.
She is convinced she has all the tools to beat anyone in her division. "I, hand on my heart, completely believe that," Artingstall said.
"Don't get me wrong there's still stuff I can improve on. I'm not the finished article, I'm not the perfect piece. There's little tweaks and changes that I'll always be making throughout my career but I believe I'm doing them while I'm in my training camps.
"There's some very good names out there that would be very, very good fights," she continued. "I see them as a challenge and I see them as a tough test.
"But on my day, I know how hard I train in the gym, every single box is ticked, I've sparred the best people in the country, bigger weights, I do everything right, I do everything I'm supposed to do. So on fight night, it's me just switching off from whatever's going on outside of the ring and just performing."
As an amateur Artingstall won an Olympic bronze medal, beating Skye Nicolson in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Games. In the national championships she also beat Raven Chapman, now another rising professional.
"They're probably thinking: 'Karriss is a bit behind me, I'll let her catch up and then maybe get the fight on down the line'," she said.
"I am not a step behind them at all. People around the world will think that, though. They'll think: 'Karriss isn't on their level,' which is just stupid. That's just the way it is. But we're in same weight division so it's going to have to happen at some point.
"I've boxed both of them. Beat both of them," Artingstall continued.
"The one against Raven was years ago, she's improved, I've improved, it'll be a different fight, more rounds etc. etc. The one with Skye was in the Olympics, close fight over three rounds… She's a tricky fighter. She's clever in her style of boxing.
"But I believe that's the only way she can box. I don't believe she can have a tear up in the centre of the ring, I'm not saying you have to but I'm just saying I don't think she can.
"You're going to get dragged into some sort of dogfight at some point in your career over 10 rounds. Someone's going to drag you into it whether you want to be there or not. It's how you deal with it and how you respond to it."
She's looking for those big fights in 2024. "I'd like to get a 10-rounder in before Christmas. Next year it's more about getting some sort of title on board and cementing myself in the featherweight division. At the minute I do think a few people might be sleeping on me. More fool them," Artingstall said.
"They'll soon know who I am when I'm beating their favourite fighter.
"Next year, that's when I can get in the ring with some of these people that on paper are 'better than me' but I'll win. My name then becomes bigger and better, worldwide, globally etc. That's the aim, getting in some tougher tests."
Promoter Ben Shalom predicts that Artingstall is now ready to go for "the big fights and the big names".
"Next year the brakes are off," Shalom told Sky Sports. "Vanessa's been in there with Choi, Mayer, Baumgardner. It's a really good measuring stick to see where Karriss is at.
"World titles definitely within 12 months. The obvious fight next is Raven Chapman. She's developed really well and has become quite a character. Lauren Price was the first one to get that [women's] British title but that's another easy British title to make. I think that's the fight next.
"Then you're looking ahead, you're looking at Skye Nicolson. I know that Karriss is after that fight. She beat her in the Olympics, she'll feel that she can do it again and she will be chasing that fight and [Amanda] Serrano at the top of the tree."
He added: "We feel that we've got the best featherweight in this country by some distance. For us it's about making sure she gets the fights and the activity that her talent deserves and then next year can be into the big fights and can be prepared for them.
"I think she's the dark horse. Out of all the Olympians we've got I think she's the one that's going to surprise a lot of people."
