David Price, a former British and Commonwealth champ, is looking for redemption this weekend in a risky European Heavyweight Championship. His unbeaten opponent across the ring will be Germany’s 6′ 5″ Erkan Teper (14-0, 9 KO). Boxnation will be broadcasting the event which is hosted at the MHP Arena, Germany.
If Price can conquer this obstacle, and pass with flying colors, he could well find himself entering back into the consciousness of British fight fans. This is the master plan of Sauerland Promotions who’ve been carefully managing Price’s career in wake of back-to-back knockout losses to Tony Thompson in 2013.
Before the dream-shattering Thompson touched down on UK shores, the future was looking bright for the British Heavyweight. At the time, the Liverpudlian prospect was hot stuff, with his 6′ 8″ frame only topped by rival Tyson Fury.
Price (19-2, 16 KO) had claimed the scalps of fellow Brits like John McDermott, Sam Sexton, Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton. Neither man had what it took to go beyond four rounds with the skyscraper. Next Price targeted a more capable opponent, and Heavyweight veteran Tony Thompson was seen as a worthy acid test.
Price and promoter Frank Maloney couldn’t have made a worse call, however. Thompson stopped Price (with an equilibrium-shattering right-hand to the ear) in the 2nd round. Thompson had gone from knockout-victim-in-waiting to true-spoiler in just under 6 minutes.
Despite Frank Maloney’s attempts to steer his fighter into a tune-up bout, Price’s pride wouldn’t allow him to leave the loss un-avenged. Price wanted an immediate rematch, and an immediate rematch he got.
Thompson didn’t need to land a ‘lucky punch’ in their second encounter to get the job done. Despite being knocked down hard in the 2nd, Thompson came back strong to outbox and eventually batter an exhausted and mentally broken Price. When Price began turning away from punches and wearing the face of a beaten man, the referee waved off the contest.
Following these two career-derailing defeats, Price signed with Germany’s Team Sauerland in November. Price has been carefully rebuilt by the promoter, and has since beaten Istvan Ruzsinszky (TKO 1), Ondrej Pala (TKO 3), Yaroslav Zavorotnyi (UD 10), and Irineu Beato Costa Junior (TKO 6).
Could we be about to see Price re-enter Heavyweight ranking tables with a win over Teper? Does Price have the mental stamina to put in a big performance and head back into the Heavyweight mix? Give us your Price vs Teper thoughts below!
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