By William Mackay: 2008 super heavyweight Olympic Bronze Medalist for Great Britain David Price (2-0, 2 KO’s) took out German Liridon Memishi (0-1-1) in a 2nd round stoppage at the Seaburn Centre, Sunderland on Friday night. For the 26-year-old Price, it was his first fight in seven months since stopping David Ingleby in Price’s pro debut in March of this year. Price had little problems against Memishi, landing hard shots to the body and head and having very little thrown back at him. The fight was stopped at the end of the 2nd round by Memishi’s corner. It was a good stoppage because he was just taking punishment and not firing anything back at Price.

The first round belonged to Price, of course, as he jawed with his jab and landed hard right hands to the head and hooks to the body. Price’s jab was really poor and it was surprising that an ex Olympian like him still didn’t know how to throw a stiff jab. Price’s pawing jab will leave him vulnerable in the future when he takes on better fighters at the world level. At 6’8″, Price literally towered over Memishi, who looked to be 6’0″, at best.

Most of the round, Price backed up the German fighter, hitting him with big shots and getting very little in return. In the 2nd round, Memishi backed Price up but was unable to land anything because Price backed away before he could land anything. The remainder of the round saw Price tagging Memishi with big power shots to the head with rights and nice hooks to the body. Price showed some good power and excellent hand speed for a fighter his size. He’s not as quick as IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko but he does appear faster than Vitali.

Although Price got the win, he showed a lot of flaws in his game that he needs to fix. He has a nasty habit of keeping his left hand down by his sides like World Boxing Council heavyweight Vitali Klitschko. It wouldn’t be so much of a problem if Price was quicker on his feet like Vitali, but he moves slowly and is very hittable because of his low left guard. That needs to be changed because he’s never going to be a fast heavyweight and needs to protect his weak chin.

Price was hurt in the Olympics by some of the good punchers and that should have been a signal that he needs to try and cover up more. Price also needs to cease with the loud grunting with every punch he throws. He reminds me of a female tennis player the way he shrieks each time he throws something. It’s important not to grunt loudly when punching because it telegraphs the shots.

A fighter can key off the grunting noise and get ready for Prices’ attacks. At the same time, the loud grunting isn’t crowd pleasing because it sounds somewhat annoying to the ear. It seems that if other fighters can punch without making this awful noise, Price should be able to keep his mouth zippered shut when throwing his shots.