THE man who calls himself “probably the only Englishman” to beat Tyson Fury is now feeling the heat in a whole new career after quitting the ring.
The Gypsy King will attempt to unify the heavyweight division on Saturday night when he faces Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury has the WBC title around his waist, while Usyk possesses the WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine straps.
Both fighters are putting their undefeated professional records on the line as well in the Middle East.
However, one man who knows what it is like to defeat the Brit is star David Price.
Fury was beaten four times out of his 31 amateur bouts, and one of those was to the Liverpudlian.
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The bad blood with Price, 40, began just before the now retired star won the super-heavyweight bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Speaking in association with Grosvenor Sport, Price said: “He wrote a letter to Boxing News saying he was going to take my place in the Olympics and beat me and beat me again, this and that.
“No one had ever really seen that as an amateur, a letter to the Boxing News, but that was typical of the background he’d come from. I had to deal with that.
“I was like, ‘who’s this kid?’ He won a medal in the World Junior Championships as well at the time, which is not easy to do, so I knew he was capable of doing what he said.”
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Price went on to beat him on points after going into the 2006 clash fired up after the barbs from the Gypsy King.
He said: “Maybe that wasn’t his intentions, but I just remember getting in there and wanting to do a number on him and put him in his place.
“It was a good fight and I never ever thought he’d go on to do what he’s gone on to do. He used to talk and talk and I just never, ever thought he would walk what he was talking.
“He proved me wrong, and good on him. I‘ll probably be the only Englishman to beat him, unless AJ fights him and manages to do a number on him.”
Price retired after losing to Derek Chisora in 2019 with a record of 25 wins from 32 fights but he admits that he has one big regret from his career – not facing Fury as a pro.
He said: “That was down to me losing, basically. I was one fight away from it happening. That was one regret, that I didn’t get a big fight.
“My biggest fight was probably [Alexander] Povetkin or Chisora. I was involved in some of my own big fights, but I would like to have fought someone like Tyson Fury and at the time I was supposed to fight him.
“Even to this day, I think I had a great chance of beating him at that time, but then once I lost, everything seems to fall off the rails a bit for me.”
Despite still retaining a huge passion for boxing, he now loves life running his own heating business.
He added: “I’ve run my own business doing insulation, heating and renewable energy stuff.
It’s just back-to-back busy every single day apart from the weekend, but I love it.
“I’m lucky that I’ve found something that I enjoy after sport. I know that a lot of sportsmen have that problem when they retire. It’s working out for me, touch wood.”
Meanwhile, Fury REFUSED to even look at rival Usyk in the pre-fight press conference.
Thursday began by the Gypsy King pulling out of a live interview for ITV’S Good Morning Britain.
And Usyk’s team continued the eventful build-up to the weekend blockbuster by reportedly filing a complaint that parts of the Riyadh ring canvas could be a trip hazard.
Things then came to a head – or rather they didn’t – when the Gypsy King refused to look at, let alone do the traditional face-to-face posturing, with his Ukrainian opponent.
But it was the WBC champion’s father John who had stolen the headlines after he shockingly HEADBUTTED Stanislav Stepchuk – a member of the Usyk team – on Monday.
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John, who was left with a bloodied forehead, was then screaming in the resulting melee: “We can’t be beat! We can’t be beat!”
The 59-year-old then threatened to headbutt Tony Bellew after he predicted a Usyk win and then launched a bitter attack on “traitor” British fans who believe that his undefeated 6ft 9in boy will be beaten this weekend.
Saudi Arabia is no place for Fury vs Usyk… the blockbuster undisputed fight will sound deserted
By Dave Kidd
IT is the single greatest individual sporting title on the planet — the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
It is the crown worn by Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Rocky Marciano and Jack Dempsey.
And it is an honour which has not been bestowed for a quarter of a century.
Yet when Tyson Fury steps into the ring to face Oleksandr Usyk for the ultimate accolade in prize-fighting, he will do so in the dead of an Arabian night, in front of a largely disinterested crowd, one with little atmosphere or sense of occasion.
What ought to have been The Greatest Show on Earth will feel like a ding-dong held in a vortex.
The Saudification of elite sport is reaching crisis point — from the civil war in golf, to the march of football’s filthy-rich Saudi Pro League, to the awarding of the 2034 World Cup.
But this event, at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena, in the early hours of Sunday morning local time, is a true crown jewel, allowing the Sheikhs to bask in its reflected glory, to marvel at their own wealth and power.
But this event, at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena, in the early hours of Sunday morning local time, is a true crown jewel, allowing the Sheikhs to bask in its reflected glory, to marvel at their own wealth and power.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr met Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami at the same venue earlier this year but that was an exhibition match, this is the real deal.
The tragedy for British boxing is that it currently holds the balance of power in the heavyweight division — thanks to Fury, Anthony Joshua and several other decent contenders.
To read more from Dave Kidd, click here.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
