David Price will hit comeback trail, Lennox aims to fix stamina issues

Following a second stoppage defeat at the hands of 41-year-old American Tony Thompson on Saturday, David Price's boxing future was seriously in doubt, with some wondering if the 30-year-old once-hot prospect would have the mental drive and determination to continue fighting after seeing his career all but come to a sudden stop.

Price (15-2, 13 KO) says he has no intention of hanging up the gloves, and that he'll go back to the drawing board:

"I'm trying to come to terms with what's just happened again," said Price. "I'll have to have a look back at it next week but I just need to come to terms with another defeat - another major disappointment. It was a big occasion so I was more tense than usual so maybe it was that. I don't know."

Price displayed a major stamina issue in the fight, flooring Thompson (38-3, 26 KO) in the second round, but failing to capitalize on that, as the veteran was able to buy himself time to recover and come back. As Price's gas tank emptied out, Thompson turned up the heat, and a defenseless, exhausted Price was stopped in five as he covered up in the corner under a relentless assault of flying fists.

Lennox Lewis, who helped train Price for the fight and has said he feels David can bounce back, says that stamina will be the issue to fix in the immediate future:

"It was a very important fight for him so maybe it could be nervous energy, it could be low blood sugar. We need to investigate what exactly is the problem," said Lewis. "To become a great fighter you have to have a good chin. You have to have stamina. You have to be able to box on the inside and the outside and you can't get cut. So we find that David's got a stamina problem, all we have to do is fix that."

With all due respect to Lewis, the "all we have to do is fix that" line isn't quite so simple as he makes it sound -- which, of course, Lennox knows. He sounds truly invested in the career of David Price, though, which is good news for Price, because to get to where he thought he was headed, he'll now need support and encouragement more than ever.