I KO'd Anthony Joshua who had to be helped up in sparring session and beat Tyson Fury when he was 18 years old

18/01/2024 10:54

David Price was once widely considered to be the UK’s top heavyweight prospect, and for good reason, too.

The power-punching youngster won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and established himself as superior to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua at the time.

Price had an age advantage over the pair as he is now 40, while Fury is 35 and Joshua 34.

His first rivalry came against the youthful Gypsy King when they were both amateurs competing to represent Team GB in Beijing.

Price emerged victorious when they fought, though they would never end up having a rematch as professionals.

Fury wrote in his autobiography: "I knew I was coming to the end of my amateur days.

"I would eventually have 31 wins from 35 bouts and I would say that only one of those defeats was genuine – when I lost to my fellow British boxer David Price in the north-west final of the ABA seniors competition in Manchester in 2006.

"I had Price on the canvas in the second round with a good shot, but he clearly outpointed me. His experience was the decisive factor."

Price gave his account to the Liverpool Echo: “It’s not something I’m going to dine out on, beating Tyson Fury when he was 18.

“But I was a young man myself and he was a world bronze medallist at the time. If you watch the fight it was a good fight.

“I had to be near my best to beat him the way I did because he has obviously proven since how good he is, but even then he had something about him.

“I’d seen young upstarts come and go and when I first sparred him I thought, ‘I’ll put this fella in his place.’ But he was different. I recognised that.

“I never ever thought he’d do what he’s done. I couldn’t foresee that.

“But I knew he had something better than the other up and coming fighters.”

In the early stages of their pro careers, Price was rated above Fury by most observers – largely due to their amateur history.

The Liverpudlian was 15-0 (13 KOs) and reigned as British heavyweight champion before infamously coming unstuck against Tony Thompson in a shock knockout defeat.

Midway through his unbeaten run, in 2010, Price recruited a young Joshua for sparring as AJ was aiming to follow in his footsteps and represent Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics.

Price told iD Boxing: “I think I'd had about six pro fights and he was double ABA champion I think.

“I went up to Sheffield because I was on my first ten-round fight, and I'd always struggle for sparring…

"I just caught him with a big right hand and down he went. He had to get helped up, type of thing, and ushered out the ring.

“And it was no big deal to me at the time, and there was no shame in that happening to you if I hit you.”

Joshua later confirmed the story as he explained: “I had come out of a police cell the day I went up to training. I won't use it as an excuse.

“Got nicked on the way up to training camp, for trouble.

"Got out Saturday and I went up there. I started sparring as soon as I got up there, straight from the station.

“I do think he was very good at the time, very strong. And I was making too many mistakes.

"Those circumstances don't help when you're sparring an elite fighter."

Sadly for Price, he would go on to be stopped by Thompson twice, Erkan Teper, Christian Hammer, Alexander Povetkin, Sergey Kuzmin and Derek Chisora before retiring in 2021 without even challenging for a world title.

In contrast, both Fury and Joshua learned from their negative experiences with Price and went on to conquer the crown.

Fury is currently the WBC champion and preparing to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA, IBF and WBO belts on February 17, while Joshua is a two-time heavyweight king and set to face Francis Ngannou on March 8.