By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn, the promoter for undefeated #7 WBC and 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua, really ripped into #10 IBF, #12 WBO heavyweight contender David Price (19-2, 16 KOs) after his 6th round TKO defeat of Irineu Beato Costa Junior (16-3, 14 KOs) last Saturday night on the Arthur Abraham vs. Paul Smith 2 card at the O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany.
Price fought in a cautious manner for the first five rounds, looking timid and basically carrying Costa Junior all the way to the 6th round. It wasn’t until the 6th that Price finally let his hands go and got the Brazilian fighter out of there after knocking him down three times in the round with a series of hard power shots.
After the fight, Hearn totally ripped into Price for his performance, saying he’s regressed as a fighter, and also saying that Joshua would have knocked Costa Junior out in the 1st round had he been in the ring with him.
“If you want to be honest it wasn’t the most impressive performance. It wasn’t explosive,” Hearn said about Price’s fight against Costa Junior last Saturday night in an interview with Sky Sports. “He [Price] looks like he’s searching for that confidence. We’re talking about a guy who suffered a defeat [to Tony Thompson] a long time ago, and he looks like he’s gone backwards. For me, you want to fight the guys and make a statement. I know he’s learning new things. He has to get the job done when you showcase in front of an arena like this. It wasn’t the type of performance where Joshua and [Tyson] Fury are going to say ‘We can’t get inside the ring with this guy,’” Hearn said.
It definitely wasn’t a great performance from Price, who looked afraid to get hit by Costa Junior. Price’s promoter Kalle Sauerland was practically smothering Price with compliments after the fight, saying this on his twitter:
”Very happy with David Price. [He] bossed the fight at his pace, range and finished him at will. Biggest puncher in Heavyweight division bar none!”
Oh brother. It’s getting a little deep from Sauerland. Price is clearly not the biggest puncher in the heavyweight division, although I do see him as being a bigger puncher than Joshua, who mostly pushes his shots. I believe that the biggest puncher in the heavyweight division right now is Deontay Wilder followed by Lucas Browne, Wladimir Klitschko and Joseph Parker. Price falls somewhere past those guys. Price can punch, but he’s definitely not in that same category as those guys.
“David Price is a quality heavyweight, and he hits very, very hard. Potentially he’s one of the hardest punchers in the division. I’d do that [match him against Joshua],” Hearn said. “If you put a poll out right now asking who would win a fight between Anthony Joshua and David Price, I think we’d know what the answer would be. But Anthony Joshua is still learning; he’s had 10 fights. David Price is a quality heavyweight. That’s a fight that would be a huge fight, and it’s a fight, particularly after that performance [against Costa Junior], isn’t that far away for Anthony Joshua. He’s back on April the 4th, and then he has Kevin Johnson on the 25th. After that, why not? Two big men and two athletes as well. For me, we all know Anthony Joshua would have got that guy [Costa Junior] out of there in one minute, but their at different stages. David is trying new stuff; he’s trying to learn and get there in the ring, which we all understand. I just can’t see when Anthony Joshua is raining down on David Price with speed and power. I’m an Anthony Joshua fan, but deep down, I think everybody thinks the same.”
Sauerland seems eager to match Price against Joshua, saying “THIS SUMMER – LETS DO IT!” Somehow, I don’t see Hearn making that fight, because he has too much to lose by putting Joshua in with Price. There’s rumors that Price batted Joshua around during a sparring session. We’ve also see how Joshua was handled well by Dillian Whyte when the two were in the amateurs. Whyte dropped Joshua in beating him by a 4 round decision. There’s also Joshua’s questionable wins in the Olympic games against Roberto Cammarelle and Erislandy Savon. A lot of boxing fans had Joshua losing those two fights and getting the Gold medal in the London Olympics in a controversial fashion.
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