Karriss Artingstall continues to move at an aggressive pace as she comes up her first full year in the pro ranks.
The latest effort by the 2020 Olympic Bronze medalist and former British Army Gunner drew favorable reviews as she outclassed unbeaten Jade Taylor over eight rounds. The only one left unimpressed by the performance, was Artingstall herself.
“I’m stepping up in quality every fight but my performance there was terrible,” Artingstall insisted after her near-shutout win this past Saturday on Sky Sports from Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England. “I’m a bit disappointed but I got the win.”
Artingstall (4-0, 0KOs) had yet to lose a round through three fights, including a six-round shutout over Linzi Buczynskyj who was 4-1 at the time of their March 25 clash in Manchester. Buczynskyj’s lone other defeat came versus Taylor (5-1, 0KOs), a single mother of two who promised to provide Artingstall with her toughest test to date.
As much was probably accomplished, as the 28-year-old southpaw had to work harder than was previously the case as a pro to earn her latest win.
It still came in dominant fashion, as Artingstall won 79-72 on the scorecard of referee Lee Every as the lone arbiter.
A bright future still awaits Artingstall, who made history in Tokyo as the first ever female active duty soldier to compete in the Olympics. She and Lauren Price—an unbeaten welterweight who won Gold as a middleweight in Tokyo for Great Britain—became just the second boxing couple ever to medal in the same Olympics, doing so five years after Tony Yoka and Estelle Mossley both struck Gold in Rio.
Year two in the pro ranks for Artingstall will likely include a regional title fight of sorts, if not a title eliminator or an outright shot at the featherweight crown. By then, she expects to work out all the kinks in her growing arsenal.
“I was falling on my backhand a bit,” noted the overly self-critical Artingstall. “I should have focused on my jab a bit more. I’ll have to watch it back, I know I was falling short.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox