David Price vs. Kamil Sokolowski – Results

By Scott Gilfoid: British heavyweight David Price (22-4, 18 KOs) put in a lackluster performance in beating journeyman Kamil Sokolowski (4-12-2, 1 KOs) by a 6 round points decision on Saturday night at the Brentwood Center in the London area in the UK. The score was 60-54. Boxing News 24 had Price winning 4 rounds to 2. The positive that comes out of the fight is at least Price didn’t get knocked out again. That’s the only positive. The rest of it is negative. Price was terrible tonight. He was fighting on fumes by the 6th. Had Sokolowski an ounce of talent, he would have knocked Price out cold in the 6th.

Price said afterwards that he intentionally went the full 6 round distance so he could get some work in. That’s not how I saw it. I got the impression that Price didn’t put everything he had in his punches because he was worried about gassing out like he did in his last fight against Christian Hammer.

It was sad to see Price being chased around the ring by Sokolowski all night long, forced to clinch, and looking flustered. A fighter with a record of 4-11-2 had Price on the run for most of the fight. It was hard to watch how bad Price is at this point in his career. The fight was competitive, and that was the really scary part. Sokolowski would have been destroyed by any halfway decent heavyweight. If Price can’t come forward to attack his opponents, he’s going to be a sitting duck against anyone with a decent punch in the future. Heck, Sokolowski had Price looking plenty worried with the shots he was hitting him with. Once shot in particular in round 4 seemed to cause Price’s legs to buckle momentarily. Price grabbed Sokolowski immediately in a clinch to keep him from landing again, but he looked hurt for a second there.

By the 5th and 6th, Price was totally gassed and holding on. He had nothing left. His arms and legs looked rubbery in the way that a fighter looks when he’s exhausted.

The interview after the fight was bad TV. Price was gasping for breath while being interviewed. At some point, he should have walked because he was not able to catch his breath.

Sokolowski deserved to win rounds 2 and 6 based on his aggression and harder landing punches.
In most of the round, Price pawed with his weak jab, flicking it out, and tying up the 31-year-old Sokolowski.

Sokolowski landed a flurry of shots at the end of round 2 that had Price looking vulnerable. Price tied up Sokolowski to keep him from continuing to nail him with shots. Never the less, Sokolowski landed some good punches before Price grabbed him in a clinch. Price’s body language during the flurry was not confident looking. Price looked like he was in distress. It was surprising to see Price worried about the shots being thrown at him by a journeyman level fighter, as this is someone he should have been able to knockout.

In the 6th, Sokolowski landed some nice shots to the head of Price that had him holding on. Sokolowski fought at a furious pace in the round, and he had Price looking almost as winded as he was in his fight with Christian Hammer. Sokolowski made a mistake by not attacking Price hard from round 1, because if he could have gotten him tired earlier in the fight, he would have been there for the taking to be knocked out.

The 6’8” Price looked noticeably leaner than in his previous performance last February against Christian Hammer. However, Price looked weak and tired at the end of the fight.

”I wanted to go 6 rounds with him,” said Price after the fight. ”He’d be a good sparring partner. I thought that was a good performance tonight. I landed most of my jabs. I want to do an 8 rounder. I must have thrown 4 punches all night with spite in it. I was boxing his face off,” said Price.

When asked who he wants to fight next, Price said, “No one in particular.”

It’s surprising that Price didn’t even have anyone in mind that he wants to fight. The only guy he mentioned after the fight was Tyson Fury, who has zero interest in fighting Price.

I got the impression that Price didn’t have the stamina to fight hard in the fight. When Price did exert himself in round 6 in response to an attack by Sokolowski, he looked badly winded and weak.

After the fight when being interviewed, Price was gasping for breath the entire time. His breathing wasn’t slowing down. He looked completely exhausted, and there was reason for him to be that tired. He was clinching Sokolowski constantly in the 6th round to keep him from getting his shots off.

I don’t think Price is going to be successful in his comeback. The way he fought tonight, he would have been knocked out by any of the top contenders in the heavyweight division. Even Tony Thompson, who is no longer a top tier heavyweight, would have likely done a job on Price tonight. When I compare the way Price looked tonight to the way he fought from 2010 to 2012, it’s like watching a different fighter entirely. Price was so much faster, more powerful and fit back then compared to now. The way Price looked tonight, he looks to be just 25 percent of what he once was. He doesn’t look much older, but he’s aged in terms of his ability.

After the fight, Price was talking about wanting to be doing 10 round fights by February. I don’t see it happening. He looked ready to be knocked out if there was a 7th round. At the end of the 6th, Price was completely gassed. His power didn’t look good at all at any point in the fight. A fighter’s power is supposed to be the last thing that goes, but in Price’s case, it’s the first thing that went. What little hand speed Price once had is gone as well. I already talked about Price’s terrible stamina. I think it’s safe to say that isn’t coming back either, but he never had good stamina to begin with. Who can forget how Tony Thompson stopped Price in their rematch in 2013 when he walked him down, and forced him to fight hard for 5 rounds.

I wouldn’t put Price in with Dave Allen, Gary Cornish or Dereck Chisora right now. He’s too vulnerable looking. Those guys would all knockout Price within 2 rounds in my view. I’m not high on any of those fighters, and I still see them making quick work of Price.