By Scott Gilfoid: – photos: www.boxing-photo.com – Uwe Koch — Kalle Sauerland, the promoter for British heavyweight David Price (19-3, 16 KOs), says the 32-year-old Price is OK after his 2nd round knockout loss to German KO machine Erkan Teper (15-0, 10 KOs) on Friday night at MHP Arena in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Price was knocked clean out by a left hook from Teper in the 2nd round.
The way that Price didn’t stir for several moments after being knocked out had the boxing fans at ringside at the edge of their seats.
Sauerland had this to say on his Twitter about Price’s condition after the fight:
Pricey safely back at the hotel with his loved ones. 6 hour road trip now begins through the night to get to #AbrahamStieglitz4 tomorrow.
— Kalle+NisseSauerland (@SauerlandBros) July 17, 2015
“He’s OK. Congrats to Teper. Gutted for Pricey,” Sauerland said.
Kalle didn’t say whether or not he would cut the 6’8” Price loose from his promotional company after this loss. The defeat if Price’s third loss in his last seven fights. It’s unclear if Sauerland Events will choose to keep Price on board or not. When you’ve got a fighter who doesn’t appear to be going anywhere in the sport, promoters have to make a decision whether to keep them on as one of their team or let them go so that they can focus on going after the fighters that are capable of winning world titles.
As for the Price-Teper fight, Teper captured the vacant European title with his win. The fight was stopped at 2:40 of the 2nd round after Teper knocked Price unconscious with a left hook to the head. Price was out before he even hit the canvas in the corner. After Price hit the canvas, he stared straight up and failed to move for a moment.
Before the knockout, Price couldn’t do much to handle the heavy pressure that Teper was putting on him. Price didn’t do anything to keep Teper from walking straight into him to land his shots. The Price from 2013 and before then would have likely met Teper straight on and opened up with a barrage of punches to the head and body that likely would have had the German fighter second-guessing himself. But the version of Price we saw tonight was a much less aggressive one, who looked timid all throughout the fight. Heck, Price looked afraid when he walked into the ring. He was really nervous looking.
In contrast, Teper came out all smiles, and was laughing after he mistakenly attempted to enter the ring in the wrong spot. Teper looked totally cool and calm, as if he were among friends. During the introduction of the fighters, Price was heavily booed by the fans while Teper was cheered. That was probably something new for Price because in his other fights in Germany, he’s received a lot of applause from the fans, perhaps because he wasn’t fighting German fighters like he was tonight. Without the cheering, Price looked very uncomfortable.
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