UNABLE to box along with the rest of GBโ€™s Olympic squad in Belgrade in April, Karriss Artingstall and Lauren Price got in some valuable competition in the Czech Republic at the Grand Prix tournament.

Once again Price met her enduring rival Nouchka Fontijn. Price used her speed to dart in and out, landing her southpaw jab. But the tall Dutch middleweight did manage to clump her with heavy rights. The bout got messy at times and Fontijn edged this one a split decision. Expect their rivalry to continue at the European Olympic qualification event thatโ€™s set to run from June 4-8 in Paris.

Artingstall reached the Grand Prix final on May 8 but was withdrawn as a precautionary measure ahead of the qualifier. But she boxed three times, winning them all, often in style, moving well on her feet and lining up heavy straight one-twos. All the more impressive as Karriss was returning after 18 months out.

โ€œItโ€™s been a rollercoaster of emotions. Some weeks youโ€™re on fire and youโ€™re ready to go to a tournament and then before you know it, it gets snatched away from you,โ€ Artingstall told Boxing News. โ€œItโ€™s up and down constantly for the past 12, 16 months.

โ€œAll the ringrust and that will be gone after this tournament and Iโ€™ll be firing for the qualifiers.โ€

Kariss Artingstall
GB Boxing

In her first bout at the Grand Prix, Artingstall beat experienced Pole Sandra Kruk, then handed defeats to the host nationโ€™s Lenka Bernardova and Finlandโ€™s Vilma Viitanen. Karriss has continued to improve. โ€œIโ€™m a much better more dangerous fighter I think,โ€ she said. โ€œWeโ€™ve had time to build on ourselves but then at the same time weโ€™ve just not been in the ring. The qualifiers have been pushed back etc. But itโ€™s just nice to have it all in sight now and in armโ€™s reach. Again.

โ€œThe whole point of the qualifiers is so you can earn your spot on the plane to Tokyo. But it doesnโ€™t just stop there for me. Obviously I want to earn my points and get gold in the qualifier as well. The better I do in the qualifier the better the position is for me at the Olympics. Itโ€™s not just about qualifying, itโ€™s about getting on top of the podium,โ€ she continued. โ€œYou go into a tournament, you donโ€™t want to just get bronze, regardless of what the tournament is. You want gold. You want to be at the top and I want to be the best 57kgs in the world.

โ€œThe opponents are top class on my side of the draw [for the qualifier] but Iโ€™m familiar with all of them so I know what I need to do to get the job done.

โ€œIโ€™ll be ready.โ€