David Price has warned British and Commonwealth heavyweight title challenger Matt Skelton that he stands little chance of altering his tactics when they finally meet on Friday night in Liverpool.
The promising heavyweight champion weighed in at a career high 17st 12lbs – 9lbs more than his experienced opponent – on Thursday afternoon. There is a belief from some that Skelton possesses the ability to challenge Price in a way that anyone else has yet to do but the Liverpool fighter, who knocked out Audley Harrison in just 82 seconds in his last title defence, is not concerned that that will be the case.
“I’ve had no problems [in training],” said Price, who is likely to face Dereck Chisora next should he successfully defeat Skelton. “Getting back in to the gym straight away was a bit of a slog at first, once I got the initial week out of the way I was just on autopilot, because I’m still fit from the previous camp and it was just a matter of working on different tactics for this fight.
“Once I got past that first week it was fine.
“I’ve managed to do it [stay focused]. The best part for me has been this week; the hardest part was the training camp.
“Once this week came, I was really looking forward to fighting and performing again. The occasion – I love the weigh-in and the build up to the fight.
“17st 3lbs is a good weight for Skelton, it means he’s probably going to try and use his weight to push and lean on me, but I can cope and look after myself on the inside. But it’s not a matter of having to do that – I want to initiate my game plan, and fight my fight.
“I think I’m more professional and well schooled enough to not let [Skelton dictate tactics]. I’ll keep a cool head, stick to my tactics, be resilient about it and make sure I fight my fight.”
If Price is an in-form, confident fighter, his belief is shared by promoter Frank Maloney, who insists his man can be expected to “do a job”. He said: “[Price] is going to probably use his weight to his advantage. There’s not a lot of difference in his weight – he looks very fit, he looks very lean – I think he’s going to go out and do a job.”
On the same evening, over in Manchester, former England cricket captain Freddie Flintoff is to make his professional debut at heavyweight, against Richard Dawson. Flintoff weighed in at 15st 6lbs, with Dawson at 17st 3lb.