By Scott Gilfoid: In a move that reeks of desperation, Kalle Sauerland, the promoter for #11 WBO heavyweight contender David Price (20-3, 17 KOs), intends on taking a HUGE risk with the fragile-chinned 33-year-old Price by putting him in with the talented American knockout artist Eric Molina (25-3, 19 KOs) in November on the undercard of IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s next fight at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Sauerland figures that if the 6’8” Price wins that fight, he’ll be in the heavyweight mix for a title shot against Joshua. To be sure, the risk could in theory pay off for Price if he can get the hard hitting 6’4” Molina out of there before he gets his high powered offense cranked up. Once Molina’s offense is firing on all eight cylinders like it was in the 10th round of his last fight against former two division world champion Tomasz Adamek last April, I don’t see Price lasting long.
Price’s only chance with Molina is jumping on him early and looking to take him out before he gets warmed up. Molina, 34, is a slow starter, and that gives Price his only chance of beating him in my view.
In addition to competing on Joshua’s card in November, Price will also be fighting on October 15 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Sauerland wants to find a good opponent for him to fight on that card as well. Obviously, if Sauerland matches Price against someone too good, he’ll be regretting it big time. I mean, I didn’t like the way Price was backed up and pummeled in the 1st round of his last fight against little known Vaclav Pejsar last May at Goodison Park Stadium in Liverpool, UK. I’d never seen Pejsar before, but he was really giving it to Price before getting knocked out in the 2nd round. This begs the question; if a little known fighter like Pejsar was able to do that to Price, what will a KO artist like Molina could do to him? I see Molina as being just as good a puncher as Erkan Teper, maybe even better. We saw what Teper was able to do to Price in stopping him in just two rounds last July.
“I would expect [Price] to go on the Liverpool show, certainly against decent opposition, leading up to a Molina fight in November,” said Sauerland to skysports.com. “The Molina fight is definitely one. We’ve reached out for Molina already, and I don’t see a problem with that fight. It’s a real test, a good fight. I think that’s something that will happen later this year.”
I hope for Price’s sake that Sauerland has a big strong cup of coffee and takes a look at some of Molina’s recent fights on video, because this is a bad match-up for Price. Molina used to be a flawed fighter earlier in his career, but he’s really improved in the last year since losing to WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder last year in a 9th round KO loss. Being in the ring with Deontay has raised Molina’s game considerably.
Additionally, Molina did a lot of sparring with Deontay to help him get ready for his fight against Chris Arreola on July 16. I would venture to guess that Wilder had way more problems in the sparring sessions with Molina than he had in the actual fight against Arreola. Molina is a headache in the ring for any heavyweight in the division, especially someone like Price, who has been knocked out three times in the last three years of his career.
“Talking about Anthony Joshua opponents, if [Price] comes through these two fights there will be all sorts of cries, especially from the north-west, for a Joshua-Price fight,” said Sauerland.
Sauerland is kind of in a tough situation with the lanky Price. He’s had so many defeats in the last three years that it makes it difficult to picture a fight between him and Joshua. I mean, I can’t imagine Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn being too eager to put together a fight between him and Price, because it has the potential of ending in the 1st round.
I think a fight like that might anger the British boxing fans, especially if it takes place on Sky Box Office. Paying fans want to see competitive match-ups, and the last thing that Joshua needs is to get a rep for beating up on over-matched opposition. Price needs to prove that he can hang with some of the heavyweight contenders like Molina before Hearn could take the risk of putting him in with Joshua. I don’t know that Molina would be enough. I think Price needs to be tested against several top contenders, not just one. Having Price beat a stiff in October and then potentially defeating Molina in November wouldn’t be enough for me to want to match Joshua against him. I would want to see how Price does against someone like Kubrat Pulev, Carlos Takam, Johann Duhaupas, Alexander Ustinov, Artur Szpilka or even Hughie Fury.
Beating Molina in November and a likely stiff in October isn’t enough in my opinion for Price to get a payday fight against Joshua. I think Price needs to beat at least two of the guys on my above list before he should be given a title shot against Joshua. Molina is a fringe contender, as is Price.
I think Price still has a lot to prove that he can take a shot from a heavyweight with power without dropping to the canvas for the 10 count. Hearn needs to insist on Price not only beating Molina, but also the likes of Pulev, Szpilka, Takam, Ustinov, Hughie or Duhaupas. I’d say that Price should beat two of those guys before I’d give him the green light for a world title shot against Joshua. Unfortunately for Price, I don’t think he beats any of those guys, honestly. I think Price would be weeded out by all of those guys, but that’s the way it should be. If you’re not good enough, then why should you be getting a world title shot? We’ve already seen Joshua fight a bunch of soft guys lately. I think it’s time that Hearn start making sure that he raises the level of his opposition. In the case of Price, I think Hearn would be lowering the bar if he had Joshua fight him in 2017. I’m just saying.
I see Sauerland’s hope of getting Price a title shot against Joshua as little more than a pipe dream. Believe me, if Price fights Molina, he’ll be knocked clean out by the American fighter, and that will end any dreams of a fight against Joshua. The only way that I see Price getting a title shot against Joshua at that point is if Hearn decides to throw him a bone just for the heck of it. I would like to think that if he does that, it’ll be on non-PPV rather than on Sky Box Office PPV. Paying to see what would shape up to be a horrible mismatch would be off-putting to me. That’s why I think Hearn should insist on Price proving himself not only against Molina, but also against the likes of Pulev, Bermane Stiverne, Luis Ortiz and Hughie Fury. If Price beats them all, then he can get a world title shot against Joshua. If not, then he goes to the end of the line.