By Scott Gilfoid: British heavyweight David Price (21-3, 18 KOs) is reportedly sick and won’t be able to fight on Saturday’s Tony Bellew vs. BJ Flores card at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn revealed the news on Monday in letting boxing fans know about it at the press conference.
Price, 33, was supposed to be fighting domestic level fighter Dave Allen in an eight round fight on the card. It was seen as a mismatch by many boxing fans, but there was still some curiosity about the fight due to Allen’s punching power and Price’s history of chin problems.
“One news I must give is David Price has come down with a virus over the weekend and won’t be on the bill, which is unfortunate for him as he continues his progression,” Hearn said during press conference today via ringtv.com.
It’s too bad because you can argue that the Price-Allen fight might have been the best fight on the entire Bellew vs. Flores card. There would have been a sense of drama involved with the Price-Allen fight that the card needed. Bellew is expected to beat Flores, who was picked near the bottom of the World Boxing Council’s top 15 rankings at No.14.
If you were to go through the WBC’s entire top 15 ranking, Flores would appear to be the safest fight for Bellew, because he’s not a huge puncher. A lot of those guys have some pop in their punches, and they would have been a real nightmare for Bellew to fight.
Price has won his last two fights since being smashed by Erkan Teper last year in a 2nd round knockout. Price beat 42-year-old journeyman Iivica Perkovic (22-31, 17 KOs) by a 2nd round knockout on October 1 on the undercard of the Juergen Braehmer vs. Nathan Cleverly card in Germany. Before that, Price defeated little known Vaclav Pejsar (9-3, 8 KOs) by a 2nd round knockout last May on the undercard of the Tony Bellew vs. Ilunga Makabu card at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.
Price was knocked out twice by Tony Thompson in 2013. There was obviously a huge mistake made by Price in choosing to fight the 6’5” Thompson a second time after being stopped the first time around.
Price has been talking a lot lately about wanting to fight IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. He was willing to fight unbeaten #1 IBF Joseph Parker to earn the shot against Joshua, but that’s not going to happen. Parker is fighting Andy Ruiz Jr. in December or January, possibly for the vacant World Boxing Organization heavyweight title that has still yet to be stripped from Tyson Fury. It’s unclear what Price’s path to earn a title shot against Joshua.
Frankly, I would like to think that Price would have to fight better opposition that Dave Allen, Pejsar and Perkovic to get a crack at a title. I mean, I can understand Price wanting a confidence booster after the way he was poleaxed by Erkan Teper in two rounds last year, but come on. This is getting kind of ridiculous.
Price has already had two confidence boosters over third tier fodder. I think it’s time that Price steps it up again so that he can earn a title shot by fighting someone good. Price’s two mismatches just ate up a year of his career. If he wants to get a crack at Joshua, he should at least beat someone like Kubrat Pulev, Hughie and David Haye. I’m talking about all three of them. I don’t think beating one of them would be enough for Price to rate a world title shot.
Four years ago, Price’s career was humming along with him knocking out everybody he was facing. In November 2012, Price stopped Matt Skelton in two rounds and looked invincible in the process. However, the wheels came off the Price express in his next fight against American Tony Thompson, who stopped him in two rounds in February 2013. At the time, the loss was blamed on Price getting clipped behind his left eye by a clubbing shot from Thompson, who wasn’t known for being a knockout puncher at the time. However, in Price’s rematch against Thompson, he was walked down and battered into submission in five rounds. Price looked awful. He did not look like he had the stamina to fight hard for more than a couple of rounds, and his confidence seemed to be completely shot. Price was then put on a diet of weak fodder opponents for his next four fights, which he won easily against journeyman level opposition. However, Price was then put in with German fringe contender Erkan Teper last year in July 2016, and Price was knocked out by him in two rounds in a fight that took place in Germany. Price showed no punch resistance in that fight.
Price’s trainer has changed his fighting style lately. Price now uses his jab more, and he holds his left hand far out in front of him at times to keep his opponents from being able to close the distance on him. However, he doesn’t seem to be consistent with either of those things. In Price’s last fight against Perkovic, he was still able to get close enough to land punches. It was fortunate for Price that he was facing a journeyman rather than a talented fighter or someone with punching power. I think there’s still a lot of unanswered questions about Price’s chin.