David Price knocked a future world champion out cold… ‘He was eyeballing me’

EXCLUSIVE: David Price landed a devastating right hand against a fighter who’d later win a world championship belt.

Prior to turning professional, the Liverpudlian made waves in the amateur scene, defeating Tyson Fury, winning a Commonwealth Games gold medal and rendering one of the toughest boxers on the planet, unconscious.

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David Price destroyed Krzysztof Głowacki

In the paid ranks, Krzysztof Głowacki shocked the world when he finished Marco Huck to not just become cruiserweight world champion, but also end the second-longest reign in the history of the division. However, while the Pole will always have that accomplishment on his resume, he was no match for David Price when the pair squared off in 2008.

In an exclusive interview with Sporf via 247Bet, the Englishman reminisced: “I fought him twice with the same result. At this stage, I was starting to grow in confidence. It was during the Olympic qualifiers for Beijing. I was starting to really grow into myself and get a bit of a name. People would look at me and think, ‘tall, skinny fighter’, that they could walk through. I had two Russians do the same thing, looking and laughing, and I put them in their places.

“Glowacki was another one in Pescara. He was trying to eyeball me, and it weren’t happening. When I fought him, I think I gave him a count at the end of the first round, and I was really starting to wack at this point. He was a small super heavyweight who ended up as a cruiserweight. Then, in the second round, I just timed a lovely right hand. He fell over his front foot, and I just stepped, right hand on the chin, and he fell flat on his face. The referee stopped the fight.

“I fought him again in Poland, and it was the same result. I was just too big and hit too hard for him. He went on to have a really good professional career, he became world champion and fought Oleksandr Usyk. He was a good name to have on my amateur record, without a doubt.”

David Price recalls getting off the floor three times to win a thrilling war

Throughout his time in boxing, Price has given fans many entertaining battles, but perhaps none were as exciting as his showdown with Varghese Johnson.

The power puncher recalled: “That’s a forgotten win. That was the semi-finals of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He was rapid. I wasn’t great with southpaws at the best of times, especially early in my career. In the first round, he was hitting me with punches I just wasn’t seeing. I went down once in each of the three rounds. The rules were in amateur boxing, if you got four counts in the fight or three counts in a round, the fight was stopped. These knockdowns weren’t because I was hurt; it was because I couldn’t see the punches.

“I was down in the fight on points. In the last round, I saw him tiring. I kept going and going, and I put him down twice and then gave him a standing count, and the referee stopped the fight with nine seconds to go. It was up there with my greatest feelings after winning a fight. I was self-critical for getting put down three times, but I think it got voted ‘Fight of the Tournament’, but it gave my teammates a massive boost, everyone was buzzing, it was brilliant. Even though I didn’t perform, I showed the heart. It paid off, and I won the gold medal.”

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports