British Heavyweight Action! Tony Thompson, 41, Exposes David Price in Two, Audley Harrison, 41 Stops Derric Rossi in Two to Win Prizefighter Tournament.
By Robert Brizel, Real Combat Media Correspondent
Two heavyweight veterans who are both 41 years old won big in Great Britain.
YouTube 37 Second Replay of the Tony Thompson Knockout of David Price
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoTWz4ddz_o
In a Liverpool heavyweight shocker, 41 year old southpaw contender Tony ‘The Tiger’ Thompson landed a brutal right hook to the head behind the ear and knocked out David Price at 2:17 of the second round with one massive shot. Meanwhile, at York Hall in Bernal Green, 41 yearold southpaw heavyweight Audley Harrison of London, made a magical comeback, trapping Derric Rossy in a corner and slamming a right hand to the head which finished Rossy midway through the second round to win the finals of the Prizefighter Tournament.
Referee Steve Gray saw Price go down and waved an end to the brief affair. Price’s legs were completely gone, and he was done, the nightmare which went wrong was complete. Thompson counterpunched carefully as Price was throwing punches by volume, and found a precise hole to finish Price. The 15-0 heavyweight pretender Price was exposed, and Thompson immediately called out the other British hopeful, Tyson Fury, for his next bout.
Thompson, from Washington D.C., is 37-3, 25 knockouts. The British Commonwealth champion Price, from Liverpool, England, fell to 15-1, with 13 knockouts, taking a loss which was a monstrous setback to British boxing. The Thompson fight proved to be too dangerous a chance. Thompson got it right, getting the inexperienced Price out of there instead of giving him the chance to outbox him on points in a long fight. In the process, the British bookies got it wrong, with bettors thinking Price would beat Thompson in a walk over, disrespecting his experience and power, and everyone got taken to the cleaners. Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall both knocked out Britain’s Lennox Lewis in heavyweight title shockers, but a forgetful British fight crowd did not see Price’s loss coming. Some British boxing fans claimed afterwards in call-in shows Price would learn from the loss, but it seemed doubtful as Price came straight forward and tried to brawl Tony Thompson down, got caught by the big man in his first test, his career in ruins.
The pro British crowd in Liverpool, United Kingdom, booed the main event outcome at Echo Arena, ending the night’s festivities on February 23, 2013.
The ring commentator stated “At the age of 41, Tony Thompson still has something to offer.” It was the worst showing in an American versus British matchup since Jerry Quarry knocked out British and European Jack Bodell in London in November 1971. The loss by Price hurt British boxing fans worse than
Amir Khan’s first round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in 2008 in Manchester.
However, former European Heavyweight champion Audley Harrison wonh is comeback and showed hard work, courage, and heart, on a night when Price didn’t.
Like Jack Bodell four decades before him, Price had absolutely no chin, a flawed defense, no game plan, and no heart. Price was throwing right uppercuts inside close with his left arm on his knee, and got exposed as a limited fighter with a disastrous approach, who came forward to slug and simply allowed Thompson to get inside when he should have been fighting from the outside using his 6’8″ height advantage.
According to Price, “I didn’t see the punch. We get caught with punches. Disappointing. It got me on the back of the neck, the side, you get knocked down, you find yourself on the floor, one of those things, heavyweight boxing for you. I felt comfortable, take my time and chip away at him. I was gonna be patient, I just got caught with a shot. One loss like that isn’t going to make me walk away or scream. It just happened to me. In heavyweight boxing you get caught with a shot. I’ll be back. I’ll definitely be back. Disappointing. That’s boxing for you, gotta regroup.”
Promoter and manger Frank Maloney stated “It’s a set back but it’s not the end of the world. We’ll look for a rematch with Thompson, and take it from there.”
Thompson stated: ” I felt confident. I felt great. Me and my coaches knew he was gonna try to be aggressive. We just wanted to stay patient, stay smart, and wait for this outcome. It’s all about getting in condition. At no time was I worried about my weight. It leaves me going after Tyson Fury. He’s been talking a lot in the press. I took care of Price, and I’ll take care of him (Fury). My time is coming to an end quickly (at age 41), and I want to see guys like David Price, a gentleman, succeed.
Tony Thompson versus Tyson Fury would be a great matchup later in 2013. Better, Thompson could get a title shot against WBA World Champion Alexander Povetkin or WBC World Champion Dr. Vitali Klitschko. As for the British verbal nonsense about a David Price versus Tony Thompson heavyweight rematch, it is a miserable attempt to sell tickets worse than Johnathon Banks versus Seth Mitchell II.
In contrast, 41 year old former European Heavyweight champion Audley Harrison, coming off a first round stoppage loss to David Price in October 2012, won the prizefighter tournament for the second time with a second round stoppage in the final of a tired Derric Rossy. Both fighters won both of their three round tournament bouts to reach the final, but Harrison had an easier time of it than Rossy, who looked shot entering the finals bout.
The London born Southpaw Harrison, now 31-6, 22 knockouts, knocked out Claus Bertino and won a three round revenge rematch over Martin Rogan, who had previously decisioned him over 10 rounds in December 2008. Rossy, now 28-6, 14 knockouts, Medford, New York, did well to beat Travis Walker and Ian Lewison, both by three round split decisions, but they were brutal wars and Rossi was tired and battered in his wins. Heavyweights Timo Hoffman and Albert Sosnowski also participated in the tournament, but were stopped in their opening bouts.
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