By Terence Dooley
Liverpool’s heavyweight sensation David Price will not make his U.S. debut next month as he has been pulled from the July 27 bill in Atlantic City – which will be headlined by Henry Lundy versus Raymundo Beltran – according to his latest blog entry on www.davidprice.co.uk. Price, 13-0 (11), had hoped to capitalise on last month’s British and Commonwealth title win over Sam Sexton by having a U.S. outing, but will now have to wait for his Stateside bow.
The news comes hot on the heels of Sky’s decision not offer Frank Maloney, Price’s promoter, TV dates for the coming seasons – a decision that has left Maloney searching for a new home for his stable of fighters.
‘It was confirmed last week that my promoter, Frank Maloney, will not have his contract renewed by Sky Sports which means that I'll no longer feature on the channel,’ wrote Price. ‘Another small set back also developed last week when, due to circumstances outside of my control, I was informed that I'm no longer able to feature on the Atlantic City bill in July. Having fought in the USA as an amateur and trained in LA and Las Vegas on a number of occasions I was looking forward to making my US debut as a professional.
‘Having spent the last few weeks training hard in the gym it's easy to put the business side of the fight game to the back of your mind. In my opinion that's how it should be for a fighter because it's important that your focus is 100% on getting physically and mentally prepared. However, sometimes it's difficult not to let yourself get distracted by what's going on around you!’
Price added: ‘Obviously the Sky decision has come as a huge disappointment to all involved. Frank has worked in partnership with them for the last 23 years and, as a fight fan myself, I've grown up watching the likes of Lennox Lewis, Naseem Hamed and Ricky Hatton develop and flourish under the Sky banner. They have a proven track record of helping to build fighters reputations on a fantastic platform and to part company just as my own career is starting to progress nicely is a real shame.
‘My focus now is to keep working hard in the gym and work towards fulfilling my own personal goals. I'm in good hands with Frank, who's talking to a number of potential broadcasters about my future fights, and the key for me is to leave the business side of things to the people around me.’
Price won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics and turned professional with high expectations heaped upon his shoulders. Indeed, the 6’ 8’’, 28-year-old heavyweight has already been mentioned as a potential future challenger for Wladimir Klitschko, therefore the loss of Maloney’s TV deal, not to mention the disappointed of losing out on some U.S. exposure, is a big blow for the British and Commonwealth titlist.
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