By James Slater – It has been announced that unbeaten heavyweight hope, reigning British and Commonwealth champ David Price will next face Audley Harrison; the fight set for The Echo Arena in Liverpool on October 13th.
The Liverpool Echo also reports how Price’s promoter, Frank Maloney, is expected to soon announce a deal he has done for his fighter to box exclusively for pay-per-view channel BoxNation. For the next 12 months, beginning with the Harrison fight, Price’s bouts will go out on BoxNation..
Some fans may moan and groan when they read how 29-year-old Price, 13-0(11) is facing the 40-year-old who is best known, to be brutally honest, as a flop at pro level, but the fight makes sense in a number of ways. Firstly, the match-up is a battle of former Olympic medal winners – Harrison of course won gold in 2000, Price claimed bronze in 2008 – and Harrison is still a big household name. Also, Price is still learning, and going in with as experienced a guy as “A-Force,” a southpaw, will see him pick up more experience.
Price will be expected by many to do a number on Harrison, a man who has lost five and has been stopped twice, but it may well depend on which version of Harrison turns up on the night. If he’s in the mood to let his hands go and fight hard (as he did against Danny Williams in their rematch, and, late on when injured, against Michael Sprott), Harrison could very well test Price, and maybe test his chin also.
Harrison won last time out, stopping Ali Adams in the 4th, and he said after the win that he wanted to go out with a bang, and get a fight with one of the young stars before finally retiring. Now, with this shot at one of the hottest heavyweights in the world, Harrison gets his chance to win a couple of major titles before his up and down career comes to a close. Price will enter the ring as a huge betting favourite, though.
The younger man, possessing more power, and fighting at home, Price, who is even taller than Harrison (6’8” to Audley’s 6.5.5”) may struggle a little with the southpaw stance, but after he has that figured out (Price last fought a lefty in June of 2010, when he stopped Pavol Polakovic in the 1st-round) he should be able to get Harrison out of there.
Harrison will hopefully give it a real go in what could be his final fight (no repeat of the “effort” he gave in his fight with David Haye!) but there looks to be only one winner. Could Price make something of a statement by stopping Harrison in the very first round?