by Rick Reeno
The future of Olympic bronze medal winner David Price (19-3, 16KOs) is still undetermined.
After suffering back to back knockout losses to Tony Thompson in 2013, he became a free agent after his promoter Frank Maloney stepped away from the sport.
Rather than sign with anyone in the UK, Price inked a promotional agreement with German powerhouse Sauerland Event, who promote fighters from several countries and in recent years have expanded their reach into the UK market by signing George Groves and Anthony Ogogo among others.
After signing to Sauerland, they slowly rebuilt his career with a four fight win streak. He worked his way up to a showdown with undefeated Erkan Teper for the vacant EBU heavyweight championship.
Price was pegged as the favorite win. What should have been a shining moment for Price, quickly became a nightmare when Teper knocked him out in the second round.
"To be honest I'm giving David his time. I've spoke to him a couple of times since the fight. The fight was a disaster, but it's heavyweight boxing. He has everything that a heavyweight needs, but he gets caught at the wrong times. Only David can make that decision on whether he will fight on," promoter Kalle Sauerland said to BoxingScene.com.
Price could certainly use the help of an experienced heavyweight trainer to get him back on his feet.
After suffering knockout defeats in two of his four fights from 2003 to 2004, Klitschko took several fights to regain his confidence and there were some bumpy moments along the way with knockdowns suffered against DaVarryl Williamson and Sam Peter. But ultimately Klitschko became the heavyweight ruler, and he's maintained that position for the last decade.
Klitschko could have never reinvented himself without the help of his late trainer Emanuel Steward, who also helped Lennox Lewis become a heavyweight legend after suffering a knockout loss to Oliver McCall.
Price has the size, the punch and the skill. But often abandons his own game plane and fights in a manner that exposes his chin to big counter punches.
If he would have fought in the same hit and grab manner as Klitschko, Sauerland is confident that he would have won his last fight.
"If he would have adopted the Klitschko jab and grab tactics against Teper, he probably would have won the fight. What cost him is when he came to in-fight, he started throwing uppercuts and hooks instead of holding him or pushing him off - and it sounds terrible, but those are the tactics that Klitschko adapts in those situations. That's what the big guys do, but David has a lot of heart and when he's in there he starts fighting and got caught by a very clean punch from a big puncher," Sauerland said.
