(Photo Wende) By Scott Gilfoid: It seems that former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price’s recent win over 39-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslav Zavortnyi was a costly victory, because Price suffered a tendon injury in his right hand that required him to have hand surgery.
The injured hand was operated on Tuesday by specialist Mike Hayton, and while the surgery was a success, Price is still expected to be out of the ring until December. Price is 31-years-old and has spent the first half of 2014 fighting lower level opposition. The injury means that Price likely won’t have much to show for the entire 2014 year in terms of solid wins.
‘’I picked up a hand injury in my last fight against Zavorotnyi,’’ said Price. ‘’It had been four weeks and there had been no real improvement so I went to see Mike Hayton and we decided to open it up and see what the problem was. There was a split in the tendon and some scar tissue that had to be removed. It is still a little sore now but Mike was pleased with how it went and he is confident that my hand will be back to full strength in no time.”
It sounds good, but Price is really going to need to try and light a fire under his Germany promoter’s backsides to try and get them to match him against higher quality opposition sooner or later, because he’ll be turning 32 in July. That might be a young age for some heavyweights, but not all of them. Getting older often means more injuries for fighters, and that’s why it’s important for fighters to be moved forward with their careers rather than being kept at a certain level, especially for a fighter with Olympic experience like Price.
Price said “Realistically we will be looking at December before I am able to get back in the ring. I am going to stay in the gym. There is still a lot of work I can do. I will just need to avoid any impact training for the time being. I am glad I have got this sorted now. There was the option to take a fight in September, get an injection and fight through the injury but then you run the risk of making it worse or causing some permanent damage.”
There’s no word who Price will be fighting next when he does return to the ring in December, but you’d have to think that due to him coming off of a hand injury it’ll likely mean that he won’t be put in with anyone that could cause him to have to use a lot of right hands to try and bail himself out of a tough situation. In other words, it’s likely going to be an opponent that he can easily handle.
Price, 6’8”, is being brought along slowly following his back to back knockout losses to 42-year-old Tony Thompson in 2013. That was a disaster obviously. He should have moved on after the first knockout loss to Thompson, but instead Price fought him a second time and was overwhelmed by the pressure.
‘’There is no doubt that I will benefit from the additional time in the gym and come back even stronger. It is a minor setback but by the end of the year I will have boxed four times in 2014 and that is a massive step in the right direction. Next year I will be ready to take on anyone!’’
By Price saying he’ll be ready to take on anyone does he mean “anyone” or does he mean anyone from the 3rd tier? At any rate, Price’s promoters will be the one setting up the fights for him, and I’d be surprised if he’s put in with anyone remotely dangerous in 2015.
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