The YouTube footage isn’t strong, but what is, is David Price’s combination that knocks Tyson Fury to the canvas. In the amateur fight, eleven years ago, Price came out on top. The only Englishman to beat Fury in the ring. And he wants to go again.
The heavyweight from Liverpool has not reached the same heights as Fury since their amateur days. Fury would go on to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion, beating Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in 2015 by a unified decision. However, he hasn’t fought since.
Last October, he lost his boxing licence having admitted to cocaine use to aide a battle with depression. This sub-plot is one that needs resolving before Fury fights anyone again.
Price – who fought and won on points in Brentwood against Kamil Sokolowski on Saturday night – has not had a similar career trajectory. The first three years of Price’s career were a steady building block of victories, littered with a number of total knock outs.
The belts, although modest in comparison to what Fury would achieve, did begin to accumulate. The BBBofC {British Board Boxing of Control} Heavyweight Title. The Commonwealth Heavyweight Title, which he would defend twice, including a total knock-out win over Audley Harrison in his hometown in 2012.
However, momentum would stutter badly the following year. Having lost his titles to Tony Thompson in February in front of a home crowd, he looked to bounce back quickly five months later. Thompson though, was again too strong.
But there is context. Thompson failed a drugs test following the rematch. The subsequent ban by the BBBofC, was only enforceable in Britain. Thompson would go on to fight elsewhere, while Price’s opportunities would dry up.
When he got another title shot for a vacant European belt against Erkan Teper in 2015, he lost. The aftermath? Teper would fail a drugs test and receive a two-year ban.
Luck, has not been on his side. At 32, Price is by no means past it. But his hope of landing a world title is beyond his reach at this point. But for all the bitterness he could hold against the sport, he remains good natured. And he hopes for another chance {as well as a deserved pay day} to take on his old rival.
It would be seen as a fair if not undaunting return to the ring for Fury too. Possibly the ideal scenario, once his ban has been lifted. A competitive fixture with a bit of niggle against a fighter he respects. The fact that Price has beaten Fury would add substantially to the intrigue, and some old business Fury might well want to take care of.
Price too, however, feels he still has something to prove. Speaking before Saturday’s win, he said “It would be a lot easier for me to call it quits and get on with the rest of my life but something inside me still knows that I can do more than what I have achieved. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming to be someone who is going to be world heavyweight champion but I still believe I can achieve more than I have.”
This is a fight that could be at the right time for Fury and an opportunity for Price to showcase to a larger audience, his abilities; that were undermined by a run of bad luck against fighters who lacked his integrity.
