By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury says he’s interested in defending his WBC heavyweight title against the retired 39-year-old David Price in 2023.
Fury believes that a fight against the 6’8″ British heavyweight Price (25-6, 20 KOs) would still sell out stadiums in the UK, and he’s probably right about that.
If the English fans turned out in massive numbers to fill up the 90,000+ seat Wembley Stadium for Fury’s fight against 38-year-old journeyman Derek Chisora, they’d probably do the same for a title defense against domestic-level heavyweight Price.
Fury says that even if the World Boxing Council refuses to sanction the fight against Price, he’ll fight him for the “North West title of Great Britain.”
Earlier in Price’s career, some viewed him as the British Klitschko when he faced poor opposition and was doing quite well. Things fell apart for Price in 2013 when he lost to the 6’5″ former world title challenger Tony Thompson in consecutive fights.
Those losses for Price seemed to take away his self-confidence, not to mention his punch resistance & stamina, as his career was never the same afterward. From there, Price lost to these fighters:
- Erkan Teper
- Derek Chisora
- Christian Hammer
- Alexandr Povetkin
- Sergey Kuzmin
Price’s last fight was in October 2019, when he lost to journeyman Chisora by a fourth round knockout at the O2 Arena in London. Losing to Chisora was a career low for Price, as it was the least talented fighter he’d been beaten by and a clear sign that he needed to hang up his gloves.
The way that Fury is picking out old shot British fighters to face instead of the elite suggests that he’s nearing the end of his career and has lost interest in facing the best. Fury has become a slacker, fighting woefully deficient local lads Chisora and Dillian Whyte in back-to-back fights in 2022.
Fans want to see Fury continue to work hard with his career and not take it easy because they can’t do the same with their jobs. If Fury is going to shove a fight with Price down the throats of his British fans on pay-per-view, it would be pathetic.
“I wonder if it would still sell out a stadium if me and big old David Price had a fight,” said Tyson Fury to IFLTV.
“Even though he’s retired, Old Trafford or Anfield, I think we sell it out for the WBC World Heavyweight title. Or even if the WBC wouldn’t sanction it, we could do it for the North West title of Great Britain. Do you think it would sell out, me and Price?
“The rivalry was that big for so long, and he was the only British person to ever beat me, amateur or pro. I think it’d sell out,” said Fury.
