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09/04/2008
David Price beats Belarusan
91kg David Price beat Mahamed Adbusalamew (Belarus) RSCO3 last night, after a day of immense pressure and uncertainty.
The odds seemed stacked against the Englishman when "Dynamite" Dave drew the Belarusan. His opponent turned out to be a Russian who had boxed for Russia in the past year (a fact clearly stated in his international medical card). This might have been a repeat of the episode at the first European Olympic qualifying tournament in Pescara, when Price was adjudged to have lost against an Azerbaijani who then turned out to in fact be Russia's number two super heavyweight (when the Azerbaijani was later disqualified, David was left at the mercy of a lottery draw to decide which of the Azerbaijani's opponents would proceed to qualification - and lost out).
However, despite this, David gave a boxing lesson to his Belarusan opponent and will now box Montenegran Alen Beganovic. He has two more bouts to go to qualify for Beijing.
After his win David said: "I feel like a million dollars. I've had a long, tense time after injuries in the Worlds and all the aggro in Pescara. Then not knowing if today's bout would happen as this guy is twice Russian champion, so that was a good performance against a good boy. Terry made me watch video footage of the guy today. We got the tactics right and the sparring with Lee Swaby came in handy as this fella was a similar style of boxer."
Terry added: "It was a really good, controlled performance, especially considering the mental torture Price has been through at the Worls, Pescara and here. A year ago he couldn't have coped with this kind of pressure. Tonight he turned it to his advantage."
Darran Langley and Stephen Smith also remain in the competition and will box for their places in Beijing.
A full report and today's schedule to follow.