ANTHONY JOSHUA and David Price could have been on course for a major British heavyweight fight. Joshua, a London 2012 Olympic gold medallist, is targeting the British and Commonwealth titles before the end of 2015 with contests against Gary Cornish and Dillian Whyte already lined up. If David Price, a 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medallist, had beaten Erkan Teper for the European crown in July, a showdown for all three belts could have been on the cards. Instead Price suffered a punishing second round knockout.
“That was plan,” Joshua said. “How good would that have been? Commonwealth, British, touch wood, and then Price would have won and we would have got together next year. That would have been brilliant. I have to go somewhere else now. That would have been perfect to get that European belt. That way I would have gone straight through and then what’s next – the world. That would have been good for me.”
Joshua still thinks David Price can fight his way back. “What people say about him is nothing to do with him. He was doing what he was supposed to do [on his way up] and beating them in good fashion. That’s all he can do and if he would have beaten Teper then that’s all he can do. He lost, he gets the reaction. If you win, you get one reaction, if you lose you get another. It’s just part and parcel of the game. That’s heavyweight boxing. It’s a different league in itself. But I remember for sure everyone was bigging him up. Not everyone’s going to be the Mike Tyson or the next Muhammad Ali. But then again [Wladimir] Klitschko got beat three times and he came back and reigned 10 years. I believe Price can come back but he has to make some very, very dramatic changes if he wants to do it and really give his life to the sport.”
But if Price doesn’t make it back to top level Joshua notes what he has achieved, the British championship which Anthony now plans to win for himself. “He’s a British level heavyweight, he done well,” the Watford man notes. “Not everyone’s going to be a Muhammad Ali, not everyone’s going to be a Mike Tyson. Not every footballer’s going to be a Ronaldo, but he’s good at his level. Price is good at his level and if that’s where he is, he’s done well.”
