David Price has revealed that he expects upcoming opponent Matt Skelton to cause him far more difficulty than he could have expected against Audley Harrison when he makes the next defence of his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles on 30 November.
The 2008 Olympic bronze medallist needed only 82 seconds to secure a devastating and impressive victory over Harrison on 13 October in Liverpool but he regardless shares promoter Frank Maloney’s view that Skelton will make him work.
“Of course I do,” said Price, when asked if he is expected a greater challenge from Skelton than that which came from Harrison. “Everyone knows he’s a fighting man, that’s what he does. He’s not going to come in and shy away from a fight he’s going to want to actually have a fight and take me out of my comfort zone.
“I’m expecting a tough fight, I don’t think there’s anyone as worthy out there in the UK at the moment to challenge for my British and Commonwealth title. It’s a great fight for me.
“Every fight I have, going forward, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on me. There’s a lot of hype surrounding me at the moment. That was the same in me last fight and it’s going to be the same in this.
“It’s a welcome type of pressure – one that I take as a compliment – that I have got some kind of expectancy on me. If no one expected me to do it, then I’d be doing something wrong. The pressure is on, but it’s a welcome feeling.”
Maloney added: “Matt brings something that we haven’t seen so far. Me and Franny [Smith, Price’s trainer] talk about opponents all the time, and we discussed an opponent that would take David in to a bullring atmosphere – someone that’ll be on his chest, and try and get him at every part of his body.
“I think he brings something to the table that [Price] has not faced yet, and that’s what’s important. He’s like an old American throwback fighter, a Sonny Liston type. That’s what we need now. I need David to know what it’s like to dig deep to find that something extra, and I think Matt will bring that out.
“Tyson Fury’s not any concern of ours at the moment. If they want to fight the winner of this fight, they can pick up the telephone.”
Skelton, who had originally been scheduled to face Price in October before agreeing to wait for another fight to allow Harrison to be the challenger, said that the lack of pressure on him meant that he was enjoying his fighting career more than ever.
“You can see why [this would be called a mismatch],” Skelton said. “I came into the game late, and people think I’m past it, which I can fully understand, but in actual fact it’s nice for me – there’s no pressure on me.
“I’m enjoying my training more than ever. And I’m enjoying that people are looking at it like that, it’s giving me more to fight for.
“I laugh about it to myself – a year ago I was scratching around, and less than a year on I’m fighting for the British and Commonwealth titles against someone who people are looking at to go on and do great things. I’m over the moon about it.”