By Brendan Galbraith – Bradley Pryce will face his nemesis, Neil ‘Sinky’ Sinclair in the line-up of the next Prizefighter series and, referring to his 8th round KO at the hands of Sinky when they met in 2003, declared “last time it was man against boy – this time it will be man against old man”, predicting that this time there will be a different outcome.
Pryce is the bookies favourite to seal victory in the upcoming Prizefighter event at the York Hall, London on Friday 26th February 2010. Of course, the explosive nature of Prizefighter usually means that the script can be re-written on the night and in particular over the 3 x 3 minute rounds.
On the eve of the latest instalment of the Prizefighter series there are at least two emergent hypotheses that add excitement to this format. First, an outsider will upset the odds (think Ovil McKensie) and storm through to win the tournament and, second, the bookies favourite will go out early to an underdog (think Dean Francis, Danny Williams et al). Also it is true that the bookies favourite do on occasion follow the formbook. So, how will the 5/2 favourite, Welshman, Bradley Pryce fare in seven days time?
One man standing in Pryce’s path is the heavy-handed Belfast man Neil ‘Sinky’ Sinclair, and the potential re-match of Sinky and Pryce is the stand-out duel next week. Inevitably, this came up in our conversation and the affable Pryce openly discussed his training progress and his thoughts on the other Prizefighter opponents..
You will be facing Neil Sinclair – are you confident with the rematch?
“I would say that he is the hardest one in it to be honest. He is my biggest threat. Me and Sinclair are definitely the two best boxers in this competition and definitely I believe that one of us is going to win it and obviously I believe that is me. I have improved a hell of a lot since I last boxed Sinclair – I was 21, he was probably in his peak at that time, he was 27 at the I think, I had less than two weeks notice for that fight. When I had the phone call for that fight – I was actually in the pub drinking. So I probably stopped drinking about ten days before that fight and got straight back in the gym. To be honest, as much as I hate to lose, I did myself proud in that fight. I went 7 or 8 rounds and the ref had me winning on points. I did excellent considering how I prepared and everything. It has all changed now, the last time it was ‘man against boy’ – this time it is ‘man against old man’ – so that is going to be the difference.”
How is training going?
“Training is going brilliant, obviously a bit different from what I am used to training, I have had to change a lot around for the 3 round format. I have always considered myself as a 12-round fighter and that is how I have always trained and come late on in the fight. So I have had to go back to the drawing board and change my mentality, my style, everything had to be changed completely.”
Who have you been sparring with?
“I have been sparring with Gavin Rees, Tony Doherty (middleweight), Harry Miles (Cruiserweight) and another light middleweight (ranked in the top 20). The sparring has gone good, obviously I have been trying to go flat out for the first three (rounds) and try and get used to how it will be in Prizefighter. It has been a hell of a lot different because I am a slow starter and have always been a slow starter and to try and knock that out of me has been hard. But over the last 6 or 7 weeks I think I have done it, I think today was probably the best sparring that I have done so far. I done three rounds with Gavin (Rees) – I feel the pace that the three rounds that I boxed at and how I sparred, if I take that on the night, next week, I will have no problem with any of the guys. I am where I want to be now and it is going to be a nice week now. I am just getting my head right and focusing and training and sparring is done, everything is good now – it is just about getting out there now and doing what I have prepared to do.”
You are the bookies favourite – are you comfortable with that?
“It gives me a bit of a boost to my confidence. Obviously the bookies have belief in what I can do. That is all I need to do, I need to go in that ring and believe that none of these guys are good enough to be in the ring with me. Yeah, but like I said, I am a 12 round fighter, so out of 33 fights I have only won 3 inside 3 rounds. So, my record says it all. It comes down to how I have prepared for it, I think I have prepared well. I think I am ready to finally show that I can start fast. I think that whoever is drawn against me is going to be told to jump on me and they believe that I can’t start fast. I know what to expect and I have trained for that – I have covered every angle.”
What other opponents in the line-up do you think will be dangerous?
“I am going into Prizefighter blind, I have never seen any of these guys box. To be honest when I went up to the Prizefighter Conference during the week I had never even heard of half of these guys. I am not the biggest fan in the world and don’t keep tabs on who is who in the boxing rankings. I have never seen any of these guys box. The only one I have seen is Concepcion, I seen him against Matthew Hall and that was because I was on the same bill. And Sinclair, the only time I have seen him box was when he was stood in front of me. I have never watched a video of any of my opponents in my career and that is the way I am going to keep it. I am not going to worry about who I have been drawn against. I have prepared and I will be ready.”