Thursday 30 June 2016 13:56, UK
David Price would present a far more serious threat to Anthony Joshua than Dominic Breazeale or Charles Martin did, says the Liverpudlian's trainer Dave Coldwell.
Joshua defended his IBF world heavyweight title for the first time last weekend with relative ease - halting Breazeale inside seven rounds at The O2. Back in April, he easily blasted aside another American, Martin, to win the belt.
With the Londoner (17-0-KO17) not certain to face mandatory challenger Joseph Parker next, Price has thrown his hat into the ring as he looks to re-establish himself as a major player on a British boxing scene enjoying an all-time high. Coldwell believes Price is well capable of doing so.
He told Sky Sports: "We're back in training and he's looking very good. Pricey works really hard in the gym and is very focused. We're waiting on a date and we'd like to get out in July but I'll leave that to Team Sauerland.
"He would need a couple of fights before facing Anthony Joshua. We'd like a step up for his next one, then another and then let him off the leash. It depends on what activity he gets.
"If he can get busy and get out a couple of fights then I'm happy for him to fight Joshua in November.
"There's a difference in Pricey now. He went through a very negative spell of his career where he would doubt himself, walk out and not even get his jab off. He wasn't seeking and destroying - he was waiting to see what the other guy was going to do.
"Now, Pricey is going out there to inflict damage. This is heavyweight boxing and if you let a 16st, 17st or 18st bloke have a shot on your chin, I don't care if you're the heavyweight champion of the world - you're going over.
Joshua is a good fighter and Joshua can punch but, equally, he's got to deal with the firepower that Pricey has got.
"Joshua is a good fighter and Joshua can punch but, equally, he's got to deal with the firepower that Pricey has got and it's serious. I'm talking world-class punching power. Anybody who knows anything about boxing knows that David Price can really punch.
"Dominic Breazeale is a very tough man but watching him in his previous fights and on the pads before facing Joshua, technically he was poor. Breazeale is a big unit that someone stuck some gloves on and said, 'Let's have a pop'. Just because somebody is a tough fighter doesn't mean they're a good fighter. He was just a punchbag in there.
"In Joshua's last two fights, neither has given him problems. They've not done anything offensively. Pricey would be a different thing as he has his own firepower. He genuinely believes he'll knock Joshua out. If Joshua hits Pricey then of course he'll know about it but if it's the other way around, believe me, AJ will know about it."
Price (20-3-KO17) impressed with a two-round destruction of Vaclav Pejsar in May - his first fight since learning that all three of his professional defeats came at the hands of boxers who subsequently failed drugs tests.
