Alternate Realities: How Far Would David Price Have Gone If He Had Beaten Tony Thompson? – Ring News 24 | Boxing News

Liverpool’s David Price was being touted as one of Britain’s next big heavyweights alongside Tyson Fury. Standing nearly seven feet and equipped with crushing power,      Price had seen off the likes of Matt Skelton, Sam Sexton, Tom Dallas, Audley Harrison and John McDermott who many thought should have gotten a victory over Tyson Fury once upon a time.

But things came crashing down for David when America’s Tony Thompson went over to England to upset him at the Echo arena February 23^rd, 2013 in the second round in what was quite an upset. It is easy to see now in retrospect that perhaps Price should have taken a more gradual approach up the rankings, what with Thompson’s experience at world level. The southpaw, nicknamed “The Tiger,” had competed for the heavyweight world championship twice against Wladimir Klitschko and had beaten useful names like Vaughn Bean, Dominick Guinn and Chazz Witherspoon. But the hype train for Price had been rolling full steam ahead for quite some time by this point. So, it was a big surprise for many when Thompson landed a huge right hand to the head that discombobulated Price. Although he made it to his feet, the referee had no choice but to call a halt to the bout. Thompson repeated the same thing five months later in a rematch which effectively ended most hopes of Price ever being a force in the heavyweight division.

But what if David Price had gotten that victory over Thompson the first time? How far would he have gone?

Well, in 2013 the division was stacked with talent such as Deontay Wilder, Chris Arreola, Tyson Fury and a still decent Alexander Povetkin. We also have to be mindful of how Price would have gotten that hypothetical victory over Thompson. So, let us assume that he did without his chin being tested. Wilder was probably the most skilfully raw fighter out of those list of names. Well, he still is skilfully raw but that is a different discussion. In any case, a Wilder v Price fight would have been quite interesting. It would have been a situation where we would have to see who landed a big punch first.

Unfortunately for Price, I would not give him much of a chance (now) against any of the other names. A Tyson Fury v David Price bout was heavily talked about in the media back then and it was beginning to whet the appetite of boxing fans, given their history in the amateurs. In 2006, Price beat Fury on points although he suffered a knockdown in the second round that was not given to Tyson. This would have made for a good narrative for an eventual showdown in the professional ranks. But it was not to be after Price was exposed.

Overall, I believe that David’s lack of punch resistance would have been found out eventually by one of the other names who also carried with most of them a lot of experience already by that point. I think Fury would have found a way to overcome Price, possibly by a late knockout or on points. He has shown to have the ability to be both a boxer and a puncher with a good ring IQ. Povetkin was still at the top of his game in 2013 although he saw his first loss that year by Wladimir Klitschko in what was a dull affair. Arreola had fast hands and was good at cutting off the ring. Price never really had great mobility and this would have been capitalised on.

Sometimes, ambition just isn’t enough for a boxer and sadly for David Price that seemed to be the case.