DAVID PRICE revealed he was tempted to lash out at Kash Ali immediately after being bitten by his former sparring partner in their heavyweight grudge bout over the weekend.
Ali was disqualified for the transgression in Liverpool on Saturday night, which has led to his boxing licence being suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control, pending a hearing.
The 27-year-old had appeared to be edging his way back into the contest when the pair fell to the canvas in the fifth round, after which Price complained of the bite, with a welt evident on the left side of his stomach.
#PriceAlipic.twitter.com/wlvFKP0y6x
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) March 30, 2019
Price is still bemused by the incident, though he knows he did the right thing by avoiding further confrontation following the premature ending.
He told talkSPORT: “When he was on the floor on top of me he went a bit limp and I thought ‘he doesn’t want to get up here’, I thought he’d at least try to get up.
“The next thing I felt was his teeth sink in and I didn’t know what to do, really, it all happened quickly. It was just a bit of a mad experience.
“When I stood up and first went over to him, part of me wanted to just lay him out there and then.
“I thought better of it because it would have got myself in a load of trouble and it would have caused a lot of trouble on the night.
“I don’t know whether it’s out of character for him or not because I’ve sparred with him quite a bit and I’ve always found him to be pretty respectful.
“I just don’t know whether the build-up and the press conferences got him riled up and when he’s realised that beating me isn’t as easy as everyone seems to think, he’s thought ‘I’ll take the exit route and give him a little bite’.”
Ali – who has also had his purse, estimated to be in the region of £20,000, withheld, minus expenses – admitted to iFL TV shortly after the fight that he had been “stupid” and he could now face a lengthy ban.
Rule #1. Don’t bite a Scouser in Liverpool. #PriceAli
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) March 30, 2019
He said on the YouTube Channel: “We ended up wrestling down anyway and it was a stupid thing what I did. It was ridiculous – there are no excuses for it.”
In one of the few precedents in Britain, middleweight Adrian Dodson was banned for 18 months in 1999 after being found guilty of biting opponent Alain Bonnamie.
Price, though, added: “In all honesty I don’t think Kash Ali’s career is going to really go that far anyway as far as getting places is concerned.
“It will just stop him fighting for a while. He was going to go back to fighting on the small hall bills which is what I said anyway before it.
“He’s just ruined it for himself. He was on the big stage, he would have got knocked out eventually but at least he would have gone out with his head held high because that’s boxing and that’s what happens in boxing.
“But he took the coward’s way out.”
Speaking on Sky Sports immediately after the fight, former world champion Tony Bellew accused Ali of biting Price on multiple occasions.
Bellew added: “They were disgusting things which have no place in a boxing ring. He is a disgrace and he shouldn’t be allowed back in a boxing ring ever again.”
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