Thursday, 20 September 2018
Price staying relevant in the division by facing unbeaten Kuzmin.
On Saturday night on the Joshua v Povetkin card at Wembley, former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price 22-5 (18 Ko’s) returns straight off the back of his knockout loss to Alexander Povetkin, to roll the dice once again, when he faces 6 foot 4 Russian powerhouse Sergey Kuzmin 12-0 (9 Ko’s). Many onlookers would be quick to criticise the decision to jump straight back into the fire against an unbeaten puncher, knowing the Liverpool mans track record, having been knocked out or stopped in every one of his 5 defeats, but David recently warned people not to be too quick to judge.. Price explained that he had truly only been knocked out twice, and had really very little mileage on the clock, in regards to those who appear to fear for his health in the sport.. “I’m fresh as a daisy and I know that to remain relevant in the sport, I need to jump at these kind of opportunities.” David knows the risks involved in facing Kuzmin, having initially prepared to face lightly regarded Sean Turner in Ireland, but is confident that the small alterations that he has had to make in preparation will have him 100 percent ready to spring the upset.. “Everyone is quick to tell me when I should retire, but it’s only because the public like to see fighters like me retire, only to satisfy their curiosity to see what they do after boxing, and why? Because the public are nosey cunts..” Kuzmin has made all of the right noises so far in his career, his last 3 opponents records tally an impressive 62-7-2, so he’s not looking for the easy route, and in many regards, the pressure is really on him come Saturday.. David is always dangerous, he showed in losing bouts with Thompson and Hammer how heavy handed he is by dropping the opposition early before falling apart later, even against Povetkin, David gave the former champion his first real scare since his only defeat, by handing him a standing count just before the end of round 3.. If Price can hold it together without over thinking the task, he could very easily hand Kuzmin his first loss, but on past form, it’s tough to see this leopard suddenly change his spots overnight.. Kuzmin picked up both Gold and Silver in the 2010 and 2013 European Amateur Championships, even scoring an impressive one round stoppage over Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce, albeit an extremely green Joyce at those 2013 games.. Price is a huge man with plenty of courage, but since 2013, he has tallied 7 wins and 5 losses, without a single ranked opponent in amongst those victories, in fact the last time he beat an opponent of note was possibly 6 years ago when he beat Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton in British title defences.. If anyone deserves some luck it’s David, but the bookmakers see him a 5/3 underdog on Saturday night, and the bookies rarely get it wrong..
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