David Price hit David Haye so hard his ‘legs buckled’ in sparring session with Tony Bellew
David Haye has revealed David Price hit him so hard his legs buckled during a sparring session.
The former two-weight world champion has turned to management following his retirement in 2018, with former foe Dereck Chisora his latest protégé.
Chisora takes on Price this weekend at the 02 Arena in London in a heavyweight contest which could well be explosive.
The Liverpudlian is attempting to revive his career after a series of poor decisions and questionable match-making left the Olympic bronze medallist clinging onto domestic level fights.
However, after a career-best performance against Dave Allen in July, Price is back in the big time on a lucrative pay-per-view.
"The reason I sparred them was because I'd pulled my hamstring and wasn't sure how I'd be [for the fight with Hobson]. I thought: 'Let me see, I'll spar a couple of kids'.
"If I wasn't good enough to handle Bellew and Price then I wasn't good enough for a 12-round fight.
"I sparred, and didn't do well. I didn't have my punch evasion. It was down to my torn hamstring. I had been fine hitting pads but, when I got in the ring, I couldn't move and I got hit with too many shots.
"So OK, two weeks before a fight, the test failed. If I controlled Bellew and Price like I should have done then I would have taken the fight.
"But it wasn't worth the risk."
After his success at the 2008 Games in Beijing, Price signed with Hayemaker Promotions alongside George Groves when it seemed a world title was a formality.
But back-to-back defeats to Tony Thompson crippled the 36-year-old’s confidence, with fans questioning his desire and his chin.
However, Haye is adamant you will be hard-pressed to find a nicer individual in the game – albeit one he wants to lose on Saturday!
“I've known him since he was an amateur in 2005,” he added. “I was European cruiserweight champion and he was boxing for England when we did some sparring. This was way before I was a heavyweight, this was while my mission was to be world cruiserweight champion.
“Price came to my training camps in Cyprus, we sparred before my fights with Wladimir Klitschko and Nikolai Valuev. He has helped me a lot over the years, even when he was promoted by other people.
“He's a lovely man, a great guy. I signed him out of the amateurs and now here he is in the opposite corner to me, and it's a strange feeling because I've always wanted him to win.
“He's always been the kid who I thought would make it one day.”