By Tim Royner: Having his once promising career shattered to pieces in recent year, former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price says he’s desperate to win his fight against Alexander Povetkin this Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales.
Price (22-4, 18 KOs) knows what he stands to gain if he can find a way to upset the odds to defeat the Russian Povetkin (33-1, 23 KOs). A title shot against IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua could be in store for the 6’8” Price, and along with it a giant payday that will have him living comfortably the remainder of his life. Povetkin is Joshua’s WBA mandatory challenger. So, if Price can beat Povetkin on Saturday, he’ll put himself in position to fight for world title and be set for life whether he wins or loses that fight.
Price and Povetkin are fighting on the undercard of Joshua vs. Joseph Parker on Saturday night on Sky Box Office at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. This fight means everything to Povetkin and Price. The winner moves ahead for a world title fight against Joshua, and a payday of millions. The loser will have to work their way back up the ladder.
Price isn’t in position for a world title shot in terms of his rankings with the sanctioning bodies, but his promoter Eddie Hearn was able to setup the fight against Joshua’s WBA mandatory Povetkin. This fight can be a lottery gamble for Price. If he wins the fight, he’ll hit it big with a career high payday against Joshua.
“To me, there’s another huge upside to this fight in what can come after victory. I’m expected to lose but I’ve got other ideas. I’m not coming in there to put up a good fight – I’m desperate to win,” Price said.
Price has never beaten anyone close to the same talent level of the 38-year-old Povetkin. Price’s best wins of his career have come against Sam Sexton, John McDermott, Audley Harrison, Matt Skelton and Osborne Machimana. Those were domestic level heavyweights. When Price tried to step it up against world class fighters Tony Thompson, Erkan Teper and Christian Hammer, he lost each time. Price’s record against world class opposition is 0-4. Two things held Price back when he fought those guys and that was his ability to take a hard shot and his stamina. Price faded against Thompson in their second fight, and against Hammer.
Povetkin can be beaten. Wladimir Klitschko proved that by beating Povetkin quite easily by a 12 round unanimous decision in 2014. Wladimir didn’t do much in the fight besides jabbing and holding. Wladimir only threw a small handful of power shots, but each time he did, he had Povetkin reeling. Povetkin did not handle Wladimir’s power shots well at all. Price has good punching power too, but at the level that Wladimir had during his career. Price lacks Wladimir’s power jab and ability to keep his opponents on the outside. Despite Price being taller than Wladimir, he doesn’t have the capability of jabbing an opponent from far out to keep them from getting near him. Price is always within range of his opponent’s shots when he’s fighting on the outside. He stands close to them and he can be hit.
Price will have a 6 inch height advantage over the 6’2” Povetkin. Price will likely outweigh the 225 lb. Povetkin by 30 lbs. at least. We’re taking about a super heavyweight in Price fighting a small heavyweight in Povetkin. A size advantage like that should help Price if he’s able to withstand Povetkin’s shots, and if he doesn’t fade quickly after four or five rounds like he did against Christian Hammer last year in February. Price had that fight nearly won after knocking Hammer down in round 5. Price grew tired trying to knock Hammer out in that round, and it ended up costing him the fight when he faded and was stopped in the 7th.
“I don’t care how I win. The fight might surprise people and go the distance,” Price said. ”I’m ready to do that if needs be. Most people think it’s going to be me on the receiving of a big knockout but big upsets happen in sports and that’s what I’m there to cause.”
It sounds like Price might be thinking of going all out for a knockout of Povetkin. Price still has the punching power to beat Povetkin. There’s no questioning the power in Price’s left hook and right hand. He’s able to get a lot of leverage on his shots, and he can definitely whack. If Price can land enough of his heavy shots with full force on the chin of Povetkin, then he can definitely win this fight and win it in style.
Povetkin looks like he’s lost something from his game in his last 2 fights against Hammer and Andriy Rudenko. Before those two fights, Povetkin looked like superman in knocking out Johan Duhaupas, Mariusz Wach, Mike Perez, Carlos Takam and Manuel Charr. Something has changed in Povetkin’s game lately though, as he’s starting to look weak and old. Povetkin can still put his shots together, especially his left hook, but he doesn’t have the speed and force on his shots that he did previously.
“I’m buzzing for the biggest fight of my career. It’s got to be the best David Price ever on the night. There’s no other way and that’s how it’ll be,” Price said.
I don’t think Price has to necessarily be the best version of himself for him to beat Povetkin. He just needs to make sure he keeps his guard up to block the left hooks that Povetkin likes to throw. Stopping Povetkin’s left hook should be priority one for Price. If he can take Povetkin’s left hook away, then he only has to worry about his right hands and uppercuts. As tall as Price is, he shouldn’t allow Povetkin to crowd him. If Price can stay just out of range of Povetkin’s heavy shots, then he has a good chance of beating. Price can’t let Povetkin get on the inside though, because he can do a lot of damage in a hurry.