by Johnny Walker
David Price’s recent “comeback” fight after two shocking back-yard losses to Tony Thompson last year in Liverpool was such a non-test of the giant man’s abilities that he admitted he couldn’t wait to get back in the ring and step up the level of his competition.
Price’s initial step back found him up against Istvan Ruzsinszky of Hungary, who came into the ring with a 12-9-1 record, while Price was 15-2. Let’s just say there wasn’t a lot of risk-taking going on with Price’s new handlers at Germany’s Sauerland Event when this matchup was made.
Working with a tighter defense–most notably a higher guard–than he has in the past, Price easily took care of his journeyman opponent, taking a couple of minutes to find a rhythm before ending the evening for the Hungarian, who seemed to be badly hurt by every well-timed right hand the Scouse giant threw.
Ruzsinszky protested the stoppage, but really, there was no point to continuing, and Price was left happy to get back in the win column, but also anxious to get back in the ring and take on someone with more to offer in the way of resistance.
To that end, the now Germany-based Price had lined up 33-4 Czech heavyweight Ondrej Pala, a far more durable type, for his next fight, but alas, bad luck has again hit the Liverpudlian, as Cruiserweight king Marco “Captain” Huck, who was to headline the March 29 card in Berlin, has broken his thumb.
WBO cruiserweight champion Huck himself had stepped in to replace another cruiserweight kingpin, Yoan Pablo Fernandez (28-1, 14 KOs), who holds the IBF version of the cruiserweight title. Fernandez has been suffering from a nasty viral infection.
The result of all this is that the entire jinxed card has now been scrapped.
So the search is again on for a suitable Price opponent and a fight date, even though the fighter himself seems to have been written off by many heavyweight fans.
However, while the losses to Tony Thompson were shocking and perhaps the result of some matchmaking hubris on the part of now retired promoter Frank Maloney, those same fans should recall the state of the current world heavyweight champion’s career nearly a decade ago, when shock KO losses to the late Corrie Sanders and the very much alive Lamon Brewster had Wladimir Klitschko’s own brother, Vitali, suggesting that he find a new line of work.
Instead, Wlad hooked up with the late trainer Emanuel Steward, and the rest is history. Klitschko began a win streak that continues to this day.
David Price fervently hopes that he can recreate the great comeback of the current champion.
Now, he just needs some opponents to keep things rolling.
Leave a Reply