David Price Parts Ways With Trainer, Who Should He Choose as His New Trainer?

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With the news that heavyweight David Price has parted ways with trainer and long-term friend Franny Smith, there must be tough decisions made ahead.

David Price career is in tatters following 2 losses to experienced American, Tony Thompson. Thompson has since gone on to fight unbeaten Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in a final eliminator to face Wladimir Klitschko. Thompson lost this fight as to many he should have done against Price.

Price has taken the tough decision to make a core change in terms of ending his training with Franny Smith in order to try and get his career back on track and fulfill the undoubted potential that he has. Smith has been a great friend of Price’s for a long time now and to make this decision would have been a really tough one.
For me, this may prove to the a good decision by Price as I just think that he needs to shake things up a bit and look for new ways to go about his business. Maybe it was all too comfortable for him training in Liverpool with Franny.

Price, now really needs to assess what he wants from the sport and what he is prepared to put in to achieve his aspirations. As for me, he has all the tools to be a world champion if he has the correct tutelage and mentality. He really needs to sit down and think carefully about who is the best trainer for him. He should not rush into any decision and should evaluate all the options available to him.

There are a few names that I personally think would do a good job with Price. He could try and convince Lennox Lewis (whom he has done a little work with before) to become his full-time trainer. Lewis has all the experience that anyone could ask for having been an undisputed heavyweight world champion and is a calm and reassuring character.

Lewis is an intelligent man and has the advantage of being trained by the late, great Emanuel Steward. Lewis would have picked up a lot from being mentored by Steward and clearly knows the sport inside out.

Other less glamorous options include the likes of Joe Gallagher. Gallagher for me is one of the best up and coming trainers out there and is having fantastic success currently with the likes of the Smith brothers, Scott Quigg and Anthony Crolla.

Gallagher possess a great stable of fighters and his proved himself to be a great tactician and a really good trainer. I could see this link up being successful and Gallagher doing a great job for Price.
Another possibility could be Adam Booth. Booth, has made a real reputation for himself over the years by training David Haye and George Groves. Booth has masterminded some fantastic game-plans against the likes of Valuev and Degale and is a very cunning man.
An advantage of linking up with Booth would be being able to spar with David Haye. Haye is an elite level fighter and a chance for
Price to consistently train with Haye, would only be beneficial for the big man.

If Booth would be interested in taking on Price is another matter entirely, as he is not a trainer who takes on a lot of boxers at once. He has very much stuck to Haye and Groves for a while now and the recent addition of middleweight Andy Lee may mean that he sees no other boxers in his plans.

I just hope that whoever Price picks that he makes a real commitment to them and is willing to make the sacrifices that are sometimes necessary as a professional sportsmen. These sacrifices may include being away from his family at times and leaving his beloved Liverpool behind for training purposes.

It is of course, very easy for me to sit here and ask Price to make these sacrifices as I am not the man having to make them. It is just that for me it would be a real shame if Price was to not give his absolute, upmost to achieve his goals in the sport.

I still truly do believe that Price can be a big success in the sport and many a boxer has come back from crushing losses. Just look at the current dominant man in the division Wladimir Klitschko, who has been knocked out several times and is now the best in the division by a long way.

This is the most important part of Price’s career for me and is the point where he either turns his career back around or it stumbles along on a mediocre level.

David Price has the biggest decision of his career ahead and must take the necessary time to make sure that it is the right one!