Last night British heavyweights David Price and Hughie Fury put in some great work in winning their bouts to inch closer to the coveted title contention locations.
David Price beat Irineu Beato Costa Junior via a sixth round TKO. Like Price, he had 2 losses on his record and was a decent fighter, but at the end of the day this is part of the rebuilding for Price and was a fight he was supposed to win. In 2012, Price was in a great place. He had just stopped domestic heavyweights Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton in a combined 3 rounds to defend his British and Commonwealth straps and was looking for an entry into the top of the world scene. Two back to back KO losses to Tony Thompson and he was back at the bottom and seemed to have nowhere to go. He decided to go through the slow process of rebuilding his reputation and in 2014 banked away three decent wins to start this process.
As I said this was a fight he was expected to win so there can only be a certain amount of praise but he did look impressive in his manner of victory. It seems the days where he could swing with wide punches and go for the early stoppage are gone and instead he showed poise and patience in stalking his man before ultimately getting that stoppage anyway. His record now stands at 19-2-0 (16KO) and I am excited to see him again against a top 30 name to continue his rebranding.
Probably more impressive, the younger Fury – Hughie, came away with a wide points decision over the once beaten Andriy Rudenko. Rudenko was unbeaten up until 2014 with a string of KO’s to his credit. A war with Lucas Browne led to his first defeat by close margins, but then the young Hughie came in and really outclassed him. This win puts Hughie in the top 60 in a division with some decent talents and sets him up for a big 2015 where we could see him and Tyson in some huge fights.
