By Edward Chaykovsky

When Olympic bronze medal winner David Price went public with a story that he knocked down Anthony Joshua in a past sparring session, most fans were under the impression that he was fabricating the incident to create hype - as Price was in the running to fight Joshua on December 10 in Manchester.

Joshua would go on to pass Price over, and finalized his second defense of the IBF heavyweight title against tough contender Eric Molina.

The sparring incident took place in 2010, when Joshua was working his way to eventually reach the 2012 Olympics games - where he captured a gold medal. Price claimed that he drilled Joshua so hard that he was practically out cold and required help to get out of the ring. 

Because of the sparring incident, Price is confident that he can knock Joshua out if they meet in the ring.

After Molina was selected as the opponent for next month, Price blasted Team Joshua for going with the "easier choice" - claiming they were afraid of a repeat incident of what transpired in the sparring session.

"I know I can knock out Joshua because I've done it before," said Price to BBC Sport. "I put him down [in sparring] and he had to get helped out of the ring."

"I've kept it to myself for years because I felt bad for doing it. And I wanted to protect the lad from people shouting him out because he got knocked out in a gym with 18oz gloves. People think Anthony Joshua is this colossus of a man with a great physique but I am convinced it can go wrong for him in a fight with me. I understand why a lot of people will write me off."

Joshua openly confirmed Price's story and he believes the knockdown made him a better fighter.

"Yes, he dropped me in sparring and I continued training and that's why I am here now," Joshua told Sky Sports. "In a sense, you have to look at these things as a blessing in disguise because in boxing, a lot of people get dropped, get hurt and then go on and do great things.

"A lot of people get scared and go into a shell, but I just learnt from my mistakes and just carried on with my career. Many, many years on now we are here, but that's all hype in my opinion. So when I am looking at reality, I looked at what was right for me and thought Molina was a tougher fight. I was looking at what is the best fight for my development, someone who has been in with better fighters and yes, Eric Molina is a better opponent for me."