Alexander Povetkin vs. David Price possible for March 31st

If the March 31st unifier between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker seemed a bit too sane for a boxing fan’s taste, worry not; Eddie Hearn is on the case. David Price has reportedly accepted Matchroom’s offer to pit him against Alexander Povetkin on the undercard. The fight is not yet signed, but Price seems stoked.

“All of a sudden, the fire started burning again,” said Price. “It’s just given me the boost I needed, and that’s why I’ve got these fingers crossed now, hoping for the call really.

”I would be a heavy underdog, understandably so, but I still believe there’s a twist to come in my story.”

I’ll admit to feeling a little heartbreak at this next bit:

“I’ve had a bad few years and I feel like my perseverance is going to pay off at some point, it’s got to.”

:C.

Price (22-4, 18 KO), once viewed as the future of British heavyweight boxing, has never really recovered from his knockout losses to Tony Thompson. His two biggest fights since, against a juiced-up Erkan Teper in 2015 and against Christian Hammer last February, have seen him beaten down and stopped.

He also went into the Hammer fight a good 25 pounds over his usual weight, which is never a good sign.

In short, fighting Povetkin (33-1, 23 KO) would be a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad idea. “Russian Vityaz” has struggled more with random drug tests than with any of his opponents since getting trounced by Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, most recently dominating the aforementioned Hammer in December.

Normally, when I pass along word of a potential matchup, I say something along the lines of “here’s hoping they manage to put this together.” In this case, though: please no.