By Ciaran McKinney: So the stage was set, an electric atmosphere provided by the capacity crowd packed inside the Echo Arena in Liverpool. The tag line for this fight read ‘Redemption’ and passionate fans of the big 6’8′ Liverpudlian David Price (15-2, 13 KO’s) were waiting for their hero to strike, to gain a measure of revenge for what had occurred in the very same ring 5 months prior. The man with home advantage came into the fight as a strong favourite, with bookmakers seeming to think we were in for a longer and more balanced scrap.
So the fighters made their respective ways to the ring after an odd opening that featured a rendition of ‘Born in the USA’ and a little person holding the flag of the United States. However strange, the pre-match stares and facial expressions were fascinating. Prices’ face showed a man who had a steely determination about him but he was unable to hide the undertones of nerves and unease. Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s), however, exuded confidence and had a certain swagger about him, even managing a sarcastic dance to the entrance music of his opponent.
So off we went, the raucous crowd gave it there all, gloves touched and the fight began. The first round was a cagey from both fighters, Price seemed uneasy at the idea of unloading his usual bombs and slugging right hands, this was replaced by a calmer attempt of using his rarely seen jab, which to a certain extent was doing a job. However, Thompson was the aggressor in the opening round with the high work rate. If the first round was a quiet introduction, the second and third rounds were high octane, edge of your seat stuff. Fans of Price had their hearts in their mouth anytime he unloaded, leaving himself completely susceptible to counter punches from the 41 year old. Price was in the ascendancy and caught Thompson with a number of clubbing blows, sending him to the canvas for the first time, which was ruled to be nothing more than a slip. This was a sign of things to come from the big man, sending the Washington careering down the ropes to the floor, regaining his footing at the count of 9. Price then pushed on and had ‘The Tiger’ falling all over the place, but there weere then complaints of a rabbit punch. This gave a brief break in proceedings, and all the momentum of David seemed to have zapped him of every lastdrop of energy. A fight that seemingly was over halfway through the second round, was 70 seconds later, hanging by a thread, with Thompson catching the favourite with sizzling body shots and a melee of uppercuts.
So into the third round it went, the cool, calm and collected tactics of the hometown icon had now gone out the window, he set out on a non-stop attack of windmilling right hands which had an effect on Thompson. Whatever effect they were having on his opponent however, the damage he was doing to himself was painful to watch. The third round was a classic heavyweight slugfest, with both men laying into each other. The telling punches were landed by Thompson, crushing body shots took their toll, and as the seconds passed by, the stamina levels of Price were visibly draining, his output came to almost a complete halt. Tony Thompson, make no mistake, is a quality fighter. The clinical veteran smelt blood on his physically weakened opponent.
By the time the fourth round had come around, both men looked relatively spent. Despite the barrage he suffered in the third, Price had a brief period of respite in the fourth, connecting with some good shots, but soon enough he had gassed himself out once again. Thompson quickly regained the upper hand, and had Price stooped over and falling back on countless occasions. By this stage the defensive skills of Price were non-existent, it was a constant onslaught from Thompson, who is not by any means the most skillful fighter in the world. What he does have though, is a solid mind, picking his moments superbly and knowing when to sit and soak up pressure. When the bell rang to signal the end of the fourth, there seemed to be a difference of opinion from the trainer and from training camp-confidante Lennox Lewis, with the prior opting for a sit down approach, whilst the latter screamed for the corner to get their man on his feet and get some rhythm. As previously stated, Thompson could smell blood and was out of his corner straight away. The end was near.
The fifth round was nothing short of a disaster for David Price, quite simply, he had punched himself out of contention in a fight which was he very capable of winning. He took a number of massive hits, an array of uppercuts and shots to the body which may have sent a lesser man to the ground. Whilst his chin may have held out, his body simply, did not stand a chance, after a sensational attack from the 41 year old Thompson that consisted of almost 20 unanswered punches, the referee stepped in to separate the fighters and issued a standing count. At this stage, Price was battered, bloodied and bruised. In my opinion, the fight should have been stopped there and then without the option of a count. Never the less, a distraught and disconsolate figure did not answer the count and slumped towards his corner. The Echo Arena and the once frantic and deafening crowd, were completely silent. The only sound that could be herd was one of the overjoyed Tony Thompson screaming in victory along with his entourage.
The atmosphere in the aftermath of this defeat for David Price was genuinely harrowing. He is not the sort of fighter that the masses crave to see get knocked out, unlike a certain Mancunian boxer who may soon be fighting David Haye. A man who had no doubt spent 5 months rebuilding his confidence and career, has just had it all smashed to pieces once again. There was to be no post match interview from the loser, only from his promoter and loyal friend Frank Maloney. This told the bleak story all to well, breaking down and was unable to finish the questioning. Where David Price goes from here, no one knows. One thing is for sure, world level boxing is a long way off. The rebuilding process (if there is to be one) will be a long and arduous road, and at the age of 30, will not be easy. It will be intriguing to see what goes on in the aftermath of this duel, and I for one hope, that no decisions will be made in haste.
I shall delve further into detail in future article on the curious case of David Price and the stare of the domestic and international heavyweight scene. Also, hats off to Tony Thompson, who once again, defied the odds and won when it mattered. Finally, on top of the defeat, i have to comment ‘The Tiger’ for one of the funniest post fight interviews i have ever seen.
Once again, thank you all for reading.
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