David Price wants Anthony Joshua fight in 2016

By Boxing News - 06/21/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: #12 IBF heavyweight contender David Price (20-3, 17 KOs) recently came off a year long layoff to destroy an over-matched 3rd tier fighter named Vaclav Pejsar (9-3, 8 KOs) by a 2nd round knockout last month on May 29 on the undercard of the Tony Bellew vs. Ilunga Makabu card at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England. Will Joshua give Price a mercy fight or will he ignore him?

The victory for the 32-year-old Price has planted some ideas in his head, because he now would like to fight IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, and he believes the fight could take place later this year. I can well understand why Price would want to fight Joshua. The payday for a fight against Joshua would likely be huge for Price if he could get that fight.

Matchroom would probably make Joshua vs. Price a pay-per-view affair on Sky Box Office, and tons of British fans would probably purchase the fight, thinking it would be a good match. It wouldn’t. It would be a horrible fight from the way I see it.

Just why Joshua would want to bother burning up one of his valuable fight dates facing Price is beyond me. I don’t see it as a possibility, but then again, anything is possible when it comes to the match-making that’s done for Joshua. Price has to be seen as a potential Joshua opponent just based on him being one of the few well known UK heavyweights.

“There’s definitely room for me,” said Price to skysports.com about him being a potential opponent for the 6’6” Joshua. “There will always be room for a 6 foot 9, 20-stone heavyweight who can knock people out with either hand. With my pedigree, there has to be room for me. I’ve been reinstated in the top 15 with the IBF which makes me eligible should Anthony Joshua make another defence this year,” said Price.

Surprisingly, the International Boxing Federation now has Price ranked at #12 despite him having fought just once in the last year in beating little known Vaclav Pejsar. Price looked dreadful in that fight. First off, Price came into the fight a flabby looking 271lbs, which is 22lbs heavier than in his previous fight last year when he weighed in at 249. Secondly, Price was getting nailed with left hooks by Pejsar and right hands. On two occasions in that fight, Price found himself getting royally pounded against the ropes and had to cover up.

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Price’s hand speed, which was never good to begin with, looked much slower than I’d ever seen from him. He’s just really slow now, and of course, he doesn’t move well. Price moved like a sloth around the ring, and was getting outmaneuvered by the 3rd tier Pejsar. It was quite sad to see. I don’t see how Joshua would want to fight Price, because it would be such a horrible mismatch. I think it would be another wipe out similar to the one we saw when Audley Harrison fought Deontay Wilder in the past.

“Realistically, it [a fight against Joshua] could happen this year if I get a move on and get a couple of fights because that’s important,” said Price. “I need to keep people talking about me and keep my momentum going. I don’t see anyone else in the top 15 who stands out more than me and he will probably see it as an easy fight because of my defeats. It’s a big fight between two big British Olympic medallists but it’s completely in the hands of the other side, it’s not in my hands. “I 100 per cent feel cheated – they’re suspended for a reason, because they have used performance-enhancing drugs. Things might have turned out differently if those fighters hadn’t been what they were on. I’ve still got a massive amount to offer.”

Price doesn’t even have another fight scheduled, so how is he supposed to get a couple of fights before later this year? Unless Price’s promoters at Sauerland Events start lining him up in fight after fight, I don’t see him being able to fight twice more before his dream fight against Joshua later in 2016. I think if Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn fancied the idea of matching him against Price this year, he would have insisted on having him fight on the undercard of the Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale fight this Saturday. Unfortunately, that’s not happening, so Price needs to read the tea leaves and see that the fight with Joshua isn’t going to happen.