price#2 By Scott Gilfoid: Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis is giving British heavyweight David Price (15-1, 13 KO’s) a hand in getting ready for his July 6th rematch against 41-year-old American heavyweight Tony Thompson (37-3, 25 KO’s) at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK.

Lewis thinks Price needs to get meaner for the rematch so that he can come out top this time. Last time they fought, Thompson surprisingly knocked Price out in the 2nd round last February in front of Price’s own British fans in Liverpool.

Speaking with BBC Sport, Lewis said “I’m going to help him get mean. He needs to be a little meaner out there…they guys are trying to take his head off. They’re trying to hurt him and he can’t be letting that happen. He has to fight back and be a little nasty.”

That sounds all well and good, but I don’t know that It’ll matter how nasty Price gets in the ring, if he can’t take a decent head shot, he can snarl and look mean all he wants while laying down with his back on the canvas looking up at the lights. I mean, he was doing a pretty good job against Thompson last February when he was hit with a shot from him that put him down.

The fight was over at that point because Price couldn’t stand without staggering after he got back to his feet. Being mean probably won’t help Price for the Thompson fight because the veteran has been around the block before and he’s not going to be intimidated by Price giving him dirty looks or bum rushing him. That’s how Price got in trouble in the first place.

He was okay in the 1st round against Thompson when he was fighting safety first, but when Price went on the attack mode in the 2nd round, he got knocked out. In other words, when Price got mean, he got knocked out.

If I was Price, I’d tell Lewis thanks for the advice and then I’d show him the door. What Price needs is a trainer that can teach him to fight defensively so that his fragile chin doesn’t get hit so much. He needs someone like the late Emanuel Steward to teach him to work around his weaknesses.