Right I've looked through past magazines and general opinion,the preview in boxing news for example was about Maloney trying to play up Thompson as a decent opponentThe majority of boxing fans and industry thought price would walk the first fight,I can remember the moaning about prices slow progress So why now is everyone claiming it was obviously too big a step up Such bull****,for what it's worth I thought Thompson was a good opponent but was stunned when price lost,genuinely stunned
Going into the first bout Thompson was arguably the finest American Heavyweight on the Planet. Now no matter that the Americans have slipped in the division, that was still a title worth having in the sport. Price had shown himself very good to a level below Thompson. I picked Price to win, as I figured although it looked a fierce test on paper, you had to believe Price's management knew something. But I also put the proviso in, that Price's chin had let him down in the past and was question mark in his pro career. And no matter if he wins impressively tonight, there still will be doubts about Price's chin, that can only be answered in the fullness of time.
I thought Thompson was too old, too fat and unmotivated to beat Price. Was shocked when Thompson won but always knew about Price being shaky with his poor punch resistance. I won't be shocked this time though, i actually expect Thompson to win again.
Maybe here lies the answer Thompson actually gave wladimir more of a problem than most in their 2 bouts ,having watched no 2 again recently Thompson even was level through the first few but wlad was on form and sparked him So why did we think he would lose Probaly because he was brought in as the away fighter for a last payday,he came In underprepared and looking like he had enough.apparently the Brits booing of the anthem inspired him Problem is we see a different man tonight and his inspiration is people including price saying it was a lucky punch
Yeah the obvious motivation this time is to prove to Price and his fans that it wasn't a fluke KO. Its an interesting fight that's for sure.
I believe price would loose first time round and am sure he will again. He earned his living beating old men up at domestic level a world level old man owned him tho.
Reality has a way of ad******g people's expectations and opinions. Someone who thought Price would walk through Thompson in the first fight now knows Price's chinny limitations. They see that his opposition wasn't much. It might have looked impressive to knock out Audley in such quick fashion at the time, but not so much in retrospect. Look at Price's resume. Who has he ever beaten above domestic level opposition?
Not really. Aging us fighter flown over for one last decent paycheck, it's natural to assume first punch lands be will go over. Glad he didn't tho. :yep:yep
Lol well in my head I always knew it wouldn't be as easy as was assumed didn't expect him to go down from that punch tho. I also expect a similar result tonight. Prices as much as I like him is a accident waiting to happen maybe he gets tthrough this one but there's bigger fish out there
Agree with everything you said and I too thought it was a tough fight but was shocked by how he was stopped. I saw people on here saying arrogently that Haye, Price and Wladimir were the 3 hardest hitters in the division (even though Price had only fought Harrison and ***ton).
The only reason Thompson was so underrated was because Vlad knocked him out two times. I expected Thompson to beat Price again unless Lewis had taught him how to fight much better, no enough time though. Wilder refused to fight Thompson. Thompson is the best American heavyweight.
Tony Thompson was a step to far for Price. He lost twice to him but he needs to pick his oppenents much better. Lets be honest. Fury has not fought anyone of his calibre yet. Kevin Johnson a glorified sparring partner and Steve Cunningham a cruiserweight who was blown up. I think Fury will struggle with Thompson but Fury is clever he wont fight anyone of that calibre.
It wasn't a case of Price being stepped up too quick - I mean look at the physical state of Thompson. And did Thompson do anything particularly special in either of these fights??! A fighter with any sort of conditioning would've capitalised on Thompson's appalling second round, for example. But the problem was the act of standing up and throwing a punch was gassing Price! There were legitimate questions being raised about Price's toughness and ability once he faced an opponent who wouldn't roll over as soon as they got hit. Thompson was and is nothing particularly special. Price simply got exposed.