By Jim Dower: Undefeated heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury (4-0, 4 KOs) apparently isn’t backing off from his pursuit of a bout between him and British 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist David Price (1-0, 1 KOs), offering to fight him on April 11th at the York Hall, in Bethnal Green, London. Fury, 20, doesn’t have an opponent as of yet for that fight and is interested in having the 6’8″ Price step in as his opponent.
Thus far, Price has yet to show any interest in accepting Fury’s offer, and it’s unlikely that Price’s management team will allow him to fight someone as dangerous as Fury at this early point in Price’s career. Fury has looked almost unbeatable in dispatching his first four opponents after turning in December 2008.
Fury, the 2008 ABA super heavyweight champion and the Bronze medal winner in 2006 at the World Junior Championships, will be fighting on April 11th on the undercard of welterweight commonwealth champion Craig Watson vs. John O’Donnell.
Price, 25, defeated journeyman David Ingleby by a third round stoppage last Saturday night, and looked raw and not as finished as Fury as a fighter. Price lost his mouthpiece in the 3rd, and instead of waiting for the referee to stop the action and replace his mouthpiece, Price stopped fighting and stood motionless, looking down at his mouthpiece as if wishing for it to fly back into his mouth.
Ingleby continued fighting, however, and hit Price hard on the side of the head. Nothing came of it other than Price looking amateurish and embarrassed. But, it along with Price’s porous defense showed that he has a lot of work cut out for him in the future.
Price wants to fight Fury for the British title in the future, and doesn’t seem eager to fight him at this early stage in his development. However, Fury isn’t interested in waiting for that to occur because he’s worried that Price won’t make it that far because of his history of having a weak chin.
Price was hurt on a couple of occasions in the 2008 Olympics and ended up being stopped in the 2nd round by the eventual Gold medal winner super heavyweight Roberto Cammarelle of Italy. Price was never in the fight and was rocked with big rights throughout the two round fight.
Fury wasn’t exactly pleased with Price’s performance last weekend against Ingleby, pointing out that Price was hurt by the only hard shot he took in the fight, the right hand that Ingleby landed when Price stopped fighting after his mouthpiece dropped out. Fury has a point, because Price did indeed seem hurt by the right hand and covered up and clinched for a period of time afterwards.
Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Jose Rojas, Selcuk Aydin vs. Said Quali on April 17th
Unbeaten Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa (14-0, 12 KOs) faces Jose Rojas (15-6-1, 17 KOs) for the World Boxing Association interim featherweight title on April 17th at the Star of the Desert Arena at Primm Valley Resorts, in Primm, Nevada, on April 17h. Also on the card is welterweight contender Selcuk Aydin (17-0, 14 KOs) who will be facing Said Ouali (25-2, 17 KOs).
Gamboa, 27, the 2004 featherweight Olympic Gold Medalist for Cuba, has been nothing short of sensational in dispatching 12 of his 14 opponents. Although Gamboa had some shaky moments in which he’s been knocked down in several of his bouts, he’s always gotten up and been able to continue to dominate his mostly over-matched opponents.
Now, Gamboa is on a crash course of an eventual bout with undefeated WBA featherweight champion Chris John, should Gamboa get by Rojas on April 17th. Rojas, ranked number #3 in the WBA, has previously been beaten by John in a 12-round unanimous decision loss in March 2007.
Aydin, 25, is ranked number #6 in the WBC welterweight division. Originally from Turkey, Aydin, nicknamed “Mini Tyson,” has faced mostly obscure opponents many of which have poor records, but his power is undeniable. Aydin is one of the few fighters in the welterweight division that has true one-punch knockout power in each fist.
However, the major question is whether he can beat higher quality fighters in the division like WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto. As of yet, Aydin still hasn’t been tested and its unknown how he’ll do against a good opponent.
Comments are closed.