Behind every great fighter there's usually a great team. When British heavyweight champion David Price steps into the ring to face the challenge of Matt Skelton at the Aintree Equestrian Centre on November 30, the man in his corner will, as usual, be Franny Smith.
Thoughtful, articulate, knowledgeable and trusted by his charge, Franny (pictured) has been with David since his early amateur days and knows the big-punching sensation inside and out.
Hear from Franny and get the latest from inside the Price camp in the build up to the big fight:
How complete a fighter at the moment is David?
He's not the complete package yet. He's getting there but he just needs more experience now.
His overall improvements have accelerated over the last few months. It's getting a lot more serious now and he's definitely becoming the complete package; he's not there yet but he's on his way.
So will it all come together with more big fight experience?
Yes, definitely. His confidence has grown constantly with his performances, and also with what he's doing in the gym.
He's getting confidence from the people he spars and how dominant he is in those situations. It's all positive, and it's making him grow as an individual and a boxer.
It's also down to a lot of hard work. After the [Sam] Sexton and John McDermott fights he came into the gym and gave more, and I already thought he was giving one hundred per cent.
Everytime he's come back to the gym after a fight he's been prepared to give more.
He must be a great guy to train?
Yes. If you've got someone who's on the same page as you, and he wants the same things, then it's easy for both of us. He knows what I want, I know what he wants, so we plan it together and talk a lot.
He's not stupid and he's worked with loads of different trainers. He's been all over the world fighting and he knows what's required. He knows he has to keep working hard, keep his feet on the ground, and put the graft in in the gym.
How big a threat is Matt Skelton?
He brings a lot more to the table than a few others have, in terms of endeavour and courage. Matt's never been found wantng in those departments. He's going to try to put the pressure on David, try to get on David's chest and he's not going to be intimidated in any way.
So, we've got a man who's fought at the top level. He's fought for a world title, went 12 rounds against Ruslan Chagaev who, at that time, was a really good fighter. He's been European and British champion, so he's been there and done it.
He's definitely a credible opponent. He's probably in better shape than he was a few years ago. When he boxed Tom Dallas; he absolutely murdered Tom. He's got a good engine; he can work, and he throws non-stop punches inside and outside.
Who else is out there that's more worthy than Matt? I don't think there's anyone.
He's a fighting man and we have to be at our best to try to do a number on him. No one's ever done that. He's been stopped by Martin Rogan, and by Kubrat Pulev with a body shot but that can happen to anyone. No one's beaten Matt Skelton up.
Has David faced anyone as unconventional as Matt yet?
Not really. We thought maybe John Mcdermott might have made the fight a bit ugly but it never got that far.
We've done a lot of sparring with John and he tries to get close. We've faced Dereck Chisora who likes to get close and make things ugly. So we've had it outside the ring but not so much in terms of fights.
How do you see the fight going?
Until that first bell rings, you can only imagine the way it'll go. We've got set plans we'll try to stick to but over the course of 12 rounds anything can happen.
We're trying to prepare for a lot of different scenarios and we'll be ready for whatever Matt brings.
If David does win who would you like to see him face next?
There's not any 'after Matt Skelton'. There's Matt and that's all we're focusing on. I don't want to look past Matt because to do that would be foolish.
I've got no thought process on future opponents. The only opponent we're thinking of is Matt Skelton and he deserves that respect.
Bookmarks