By Tim Royner: David Price (22-4, 18 KOs) says he’s training harder than he ever has before during his 9-year pro career for his fight this month against former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (33-1, 23 KOs) on March 31 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
The 34-year-old Price and Povetkin are fighting on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker heavyweight unification fight.
Povetkin is rated #1 with the World Boxing Association. He’s got a mandatory title shot due against Joshua coming. The only reasons Povetkin took the fight with Price is because he believes he can win without any problems, and he views it as a chance to help increase the interest in a fight between him and Joshua. The casual boxing fans in the UK aren’t too familiar with Povetkin. He can change that with a sensational knockout over Price. With no pressure on Price, he’s in a good position to shock Povetkin and the fans if he can come out quickly on March 31st to score an early knockout.
The 6’8” Price is a big underdog in this fight against the 38-year-old Povetkin. Price is hoping he can use his 6 inch height and 7 inch reach advantage to beat the 6’2” Povetkin. Price will have a big size and power advantage over Povetkin. Just going off the weights for their recent fights, Price could be 35 lbs. heavier than Povetkin on the night. That’s a lot of size that Price has going for him.
Povetkin hasn’t fought someone that much bigger than him since his match against the 6’7” Marius Wach in November 2015, and that was a difficult fight for him. Povetkin eventually stopped Wach in the 12th round, but he didn’t look at all good against the Polish fighter. If Price’s chin and stamina holds out, he could give Povetkin a lot of problems and possibly score an upset.
“I’m expecting a tough fight. It’ll be the hardest fight of my career,” Price said to IFL TV. “That’s why I’m doing everything I can to prepare for it. He’s obviously good. He’s the favorite. But every dog has it’s day. There’s no reason why this can’t be my night,” Price said.
Povetkin hasn’t looked impressive in his last two fights against Christian Hammer and Andriy Rudenko. It’s unknown what’s going on with Povetkin suddenly not look like the invincible guy that took out Johann Duhaupas in 6 rounds, Carlos Takam in 10 and Manuel Charr in 7. It could be age starting to show up on Povetkin. Whatever it is, he’s not the same fighter now that he was four years ago or two years ago. That’s good news for Price. He has a chance of winning this fight if his chin and stamina hold out. Price won his last fight against journeyman Kamil Sokolowski by a 6-round points decision last December, but he didn’t look good. Price was gasping for breath during and after the fight.
Price was interviewed after the match was over, and he was winded throughout the interview. His cardio was really bad. If Price hasn’t been working on his cardio since then, he’s going to be at great risk of gassing out against Povetkin and getting stopped. That’s what happened to Price in his fight with Christian Hammer. Price knocked Hammer down in the 5th, but then gassed out and was at his mercy. Price was so tired that he was leaning over the ropes with his face towards the audience. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. When Hammer saw that, he quickly recovered and took advantage of Price and knocked him out.
”I’ve had tough sparring as you can see on my face. I need to prepare for this fight better than I’ve ever prepared,” Price said.
Price has two black eyes and his nose sounds like it might be damaged. Usually when you see a fighter with two black eyes, it’s a sign that they suffered a recent broken nose. I’d to think that Price is going into the Povetkin fight with a broken nose. That can’t be good. If Price is having problems breathing through a damaged nose, he’s not going to last long against Povetkin.
If Price does beat Povetkin, he’ll be locked in for a world title shot against Anthony Joshua, and he’ll get some life changing money against him. Price would still likely need to wait until 2019 for the title shot against Joshua, but he could take on fodder opposition while he waits for the title shot against AJ. It would be like Price hitting the lottery if he beats Povetkin. He knows that too.
Promoter Eddie Hearn is obviously hoping that Price can pull off a miracle and beat Povetkin, because it would be easier for him to sell a Joshua-Price fight to the British boxing fans than it would be for him to sell Joshua-Povetkin. That’s not a great fight, even though Povetkin used to be an excellent fighter during his best year. Price will have a puncher’s chance against Povetkin. If he can get back to the form that he had 6 years ago when he was knocking out guys like Matt Skelton, Sam Sexton, Audley Harrison and John McDermott, Povetkin will be in a lot of trouble on March 31. Back then, Price would jump on his opponents and take them out with heavy shots in the first two rounds. His punching power was too much for his opponents to take. Price started having problems when he fought the 6’5” southpaw Tony Thompson in 2013. Price didn’t react well to getting hit back by a seasoned veteran. Price came close to beating Thompson in their rematch in July 2013. Price knocked Thompson down in the 2nd round, and he probably gotten a knockout. Thompson was able to survive the round, and he came back to walk Price down and tire him out to get a stoppage in the 5th. Price’s career hasn’t been the same since then.
