Briton David Price told how he once knocked out the current WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight champion, his compatriot Anthony Joshua. According to Price, their sparring took place when Anthony was not yet a professional
To boost potential interest in a fight between the two British boxers, David Price first told the story in 2016, shortly after Anthony Joshua defeated Charles Martin to claim the IBF heavyweight title.
“It’s probably the worst kept secret in boxing and it’s something that I’ve never really brought up or mentioned,” Price told Sky Sports.
“When it happened, Joshua was an amateur on the GB squad and I was a novice pro and I kept it to myself because he was an up and coming potential boxer. I wanted to protect him from it, didn’t want to go around boasting about it.
“But our positions have changed and he’s IBF heavyweight champion of the world. I’m someone who would definitely be interested in having a shot at it, and I thought the time was right to let the cat out of the bag and let people know.
“It is possible that Anthony Joshua can be hurt and can be beaten. What I’m talking about happened a long time ago, but it’s still the two same people.”
Asked if he knocked out Joshua, Price replied: “100 per cent yeah. If it was a fight, it would have been stopped immediately. Not asleep, but flat on his face and ushered out of the ring by his trainers.
“It doesn’t seem to have affected him that much, because he’s gone on to achieve good things. He won a world silver medal a few months later.”
In 2019, Joshua was knocked out for the first time as a professional as Andy Ruiz Jr stopped the Brit in stunning fashion in Madison Square Garden.
Price is a formidable puncher and won Bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing
Recall that Anthony Joshua will next fight on September 25 at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London, Great Britain against Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.