By Terence Dooley

Sheffield’s David Coldwell had a busy night at the end of May when he took Tony Bellew into his WBC vacant cruiserweight title fight against the hard-hitting Ilunga Makabu of South Africa at Liverpool’s Goodison Park venue.  Bellew blasted the visitor out in the third to bring the belt back to Coldwell’s Sheffield-based gym.

However, the trainer had been in action earlier that night in a different, but still pressurised, situation when he guided Liverpool’s David Price back into contention via a second-round KO over Vaclav Pejsar.

It was Price’s first fight since a damaging KO loss to Erkan Teper last year.   However, the 32-year-old has been buoyed by news that both Teper and Tony Thompson tested positive for PEDs following wins over the Liverpudlian, who believes that he was cheated, not defeated, and insists that he can reach world title contention.

Both fighter and trainer were under intense pressure for that one, with Coldwell telling me that the stress stems from a mutual desire for success.

“I’m not one to talk about pressure, because you come into the game for big nights, but it was hard having both fights on the same night,” he said when talking to Boxingscene.

“The pressure on Pricey was massive.  First fight back, new training set-up and ideas, and in front of the people of Liverpool.  The pressure I feel is because of the pressure my lads are under.  If they didn’t care about it then I wouldn’t feel it as much, but they do care and put their lives and dreams in my hands—that is what the pressure is.  I know what it means to them.

“They’re the ones who walk down the streets and get ridiculed by people who don’t know what they’re talking about, they’re the ones who get hammered on social media by trolls and keyboard warriors.  It affects their lives and families.”

He added: “Fighters react to pressure in different ways.  The pressure on Bellew is because of how he speaks, how open and confident he is.  Price had the pressure of coming back.”

For a long time, Coldwell juggled promoting, managing and training yet he told me that working in the gym and running the corner on fight night is his favourite part of the sport.

“Promoting is the least favourite of my jobs,” he admitted.  “I don’t have a TV deal or big money, so it is always based on fighters selling tickets.  If they aren’t, I have to say something to them and don’t like being in that position.  I’ve taken a lot of hits.

“I love putting on good events, shows where fans are going nuts, but I don’t like having to do the stuff that the fans don’t see.  I love the training side of things because you can see the differences, things you’ve been working on in the gym getting done in the ring.

“In Price’s fight, I shouted for him to do three things we’d worked on in the gym.  He did that and it made me happy.  To see a fighter do something in the ring that you’ve worked on in the gym is a fantastic thing.”

Bellew is targeting a showdown with David Haye.  Coldwell worked with Hayemaker Promotions earlier in his career when he was handed the role of Head of Boxing.  Would a Bellew-Haye fight pull Coldwell in two different directions?

“When Jose Mourinho sits in the dugout for United against Chelsea, he won’t go into the stands for that game—Chelsea is part of his past and he will work hard to beat them,” stated Coldwell.  “It is the same in boxing, I worked with Haye in the past but it’s not like we’re pals.

“I was hired as the Head of Boxing, I was not employed in a job.  The role was more on the business side of things, working with Adam Booth more than David.  Boxing is a business, if it comes along then it is what it is.

“Fighters move from camp to camp, it is just how things are in this business.  I am close, personal friends with Tony, I used to work with David, so there is no split loyalty there whatsoever.”

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