How much farther could he have gone?
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How much farther could he have gone?
Who knows? Assuming he had a great chin or something, he probably would have fought much differently and with a lot more confidence, but stamina is still a big question mark and he never looked like a great talent to me anyways in truth.
His chin is no worse than Wlad's IMO. He needed to learn how to adapt his style to protect it better like Wlad did.
He's 32. Wlad was 27/28 when he sorted himself out and started his epic run. So the clock is ticking for him.
If my grandmother had wheels she would have been a bicycle.
Nobody knows lanky fighters like Manny did from Hearns to Lewis and now Wlad. I firmly believe that he could have made a difference. Nobody knows how to train these super hev giants. Most that are left that could toil in obscurity in east side gyms and many of them by choice. Set in their ways with no desire to be in the spotlight. They'd rather watch replays of Kojak while eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery on their ratty couch above the gym.
Wald had 23 fights before he was KO'd, then he went 16 more and had a couple KOs close together. I don't really think you can compare Price to Wald because Price has suffered 3 KOs in his last 7 fights and he's only had 22 fights.
If Price had a better chin he would have had a much better career. If Price was more athletic he would have had a much better career. You could on and on with stamina, trainer, and boxing IQ.
The truth is his chin failed him early.
I don't think he should have ever been put in the ring with Thompson, it was a huge blunder (duh), and the second fight with Thompson was another stupid move. Those two fights sucked the confidence out of him. Could the right trainer turn his career around, anything is possible and I hope it happens.
Really? I think his chin is at least quite a bit worse. Taking away the Sanders fight(and Sanders really had good hands and power, he could have KO'ed a lot of good HW's) all of Wlads losses saw him at least take some shots before he got into trouble. Pulev and Jennings both caught Wlad with some good shots in his last two fights for instance, or how about Tony Thompson for the direct comparison? He tagged Wlad with a good amount of punches in their first fight, and never hurt him. Price against Thompson(a well faded version at that) was getting hurt with shots that you wouldn't even care to see again, if it weren't for how terribly he took them.
If paulie had more power....
Price is a fruitcake anyhow, he was mentally destroyed by Thompson.
If wlad never held and clutched....