By Scott Gilfoid: Former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price (21-4, 18 KOs) will be fighting this Saturday night on December 2 against journeyman Kamil Sokolowski (4-11-2, 1 KOs) in a scheduled 6 round fight at the Brentwood Centre in Royaume-Uni, in Essex.
Price was recently calling out Tyson Fury for a fight. But instead of getting that fight, Price will be facing the unknown Sokolowski in a 6 round make or break fight. Price has to earn the Fury fight, but this seems to be a waste of time for him. There’s nothing to gain and everything to lose for Price fighting a guy of Sokolowski’s level.
Even if Price wins with flying colors, it won’t be a good enough win to get the attention of Fury. For Price to impress Fury, he’s going to need to at least beat bottom feeders in the heavyweight division like Dereck Chisora, Charles Martin, Bermane Stiverne, Otto Wallin, Amir Mansour, Guillermo Jones or Adam Kownacki. I wouldn’t favor Price to beat any of those guys right now.
Sokolowski, 31, has only been knocked out twice in his 3-year pro career. If he can withstand an early flurry of shot from Price, he could take over and score a knockout the way that Christian Hammer did. At this point in Price’s career, he’s vulnerable to getting knocked out by anyone that is able to stay in there long enough with him for him to gas out completely.
One thing is clear about the Price-Sokolowski fight. If Price loses this fight, it’s pretty much over for him. Price would need to seriously consider retiring from boxing. It’s bad enough that Price is losing to limited fighters like Christian Hammer.
Price, 34, is coming off of a 9-month layoff since being stopped in the 7th round by heavyweight contender Christian Hammer on February 4 in Kensington. The 6’8” Price had Hammer down in the 5th round of that fight, but then he gassed out and let him get back into the fight. Price was completely exhausted after dropping Hammer in the 5th, and that was after throwing a handful of punches. Price looked like he hadn’t trained at all for that contest.
Hammer then took over the fight and pounded the exhausted Price until the fight was halted in the 7th. Price was literally bent over at the waist gasping for breath after round 5. Hammer looked surprised and shocked at seeing Price bent over, and gasping for breath. Hammer didn’t immediately attack Price when he first saw him in that state. He looked worried for Price. But as soon as Hammer realized that Price was completely out of breath, he went for the Coup de Grace and wound up stopping him in the 7th. It was sad to see Price in this state. To get beaten just by gassing out is troubling, because it makes you wonder whether Price putting in the effort he needs in training camp.
Price came into the Hammer fight weighing 275 pounds. That was too much weight for Price, whose best career weigh was slightly below 250. Putting on 25 pounds of fat was a mistake on Price’s part for his last fight.