DAVID PRICE claimed he will take his fight with Sergey Kuzmin “by the scruff of the neck” as he enters another ‘last chance saloon’ situation.
Price was last in action back in March when he was stopped in five rounds by Alexander Povetkin at the Principality Stadium, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s unification bout with then WBO titlist Joseph Parker.
That win afforded Povetkin the opportunity to challenge Joshua for the WBA, IBF and WBO world titles on Saturday (September 22), while Price was left to question what was next.
However, determined to bounce back Price, 35, has stepped in on late notice to take on a second Russian heavyweight in succession when he meets former European amateur champion Kuzmin, 31.
Price will go into the bout with the rare experience of having fought in a huge stadium fight on the undercard of a world heavyweight title showdown, something he is hoping Kuzmin will struggle to deal with.
“I’m hoping it will get on top of him, I don’t know if it will or not but it won’t be getting on top of me as I’m hopeful everyone will be on my side,” Price said. “If you can overcome the numbers in your head, you’re okay, it’s just people at the end of the day.
“It’s a bit weird as it would be harder fighting [at York Hall] sold out rather than Wembley stadium sold out. Because they’re on top of you [at York Hall], at Wembley everyone is far away and you can’t hear anything.
“After the [Povetkin] fight I look back at it and it was one of the best weeks of my life, even though I Iost, just the occasion and the event. This phenomenon of Anthony Joshua, and everything going around it, we may never see anything like this again.”
Price was set to return in October in a bout against Sean Turner, however, after that fight fell through, the Liverpudlian revealed this fight made sense, despite previously turning it down.
“It’s a business move at the end of the day,” Price said.
“The fight was offered to me eight weeks ago and we knocked it back and then they came back with different terms and I didn’t have an opponent for Belfast.
“I’m 35, I don’t have a promoter and I saw this as a great opportunity to cause a big upset. Although he isn’t ranked, and not everyone knows Kuzmin yet, so in that sense it is a risk.
“I’ve got to go in and take it by the scruff of the neck and get the win. There’s no other viable result for me. I’m not going to even process the thought of losing as the upside to winning is too much.
“I said this before the Povetkin fight and unfortunately it didn’t work out but this is like my second bit of the cherry. I have to go out there and make sure I take it.”
