Back to the Future: David Price Ready to Write a New Chapter in Liverpool

David Price has become accustomed to dealing with setbacks. 

The heavyweight has suffered three stoppage defeats in his professional career. Physically, he quickly recovered from each loss. The mental scars, however, have taken a little longer to heal.

On Sunday, at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Price returns to the ring for the first time since suffering a horrible knockout against Erkan Teper on July 17, 2015.

Don't call it a comeback, just a new chapter in a story that has had more twists and turns than an eight-week yoga course.

After back-to-back defeats to veteran American Tony Thompson in his home city of Liverpool in 2013, Price's first attempt at rehabilitation ran smoothly, up until the middle of last year.

He rebuilt his confidence with four wins on foreign soil, setting him up for a shot at the vacant European title.

Teper, however, put paid to his hopes in Ludwigsburg, Germany. In Round 2, Price took a glancing right hook to the back of the head. As he was ducking down, a follow-up left hook caught him flush on the chin.

The Englishman toppled like a chopped-down tree in a forest. "Timber!" would have been an appropriate shout at ringside.

Price was sprawled out by the punch, all 6'8" of him lying horizontal on the canvas. His feet were stuck together, like his laces had been tied, while the fall resulted in his head being stuck underneath the bottom rope, almost flopping out of the ring.

There was no need to bother counting—the fight was well and truly over. There was good reason to suspect Price's career was well and truly over too.

Retirement looked the next move, as the fighter himself told Jeff Powell of the Daily Mail:

"

For a long time after that I was living in dread of ever fighting again. I had given up on the game.

Any defeat is a psychological blow for every boxer. When it is as spectacular and humiliating as the one I suffered in Germany it is a devastating mental trauma.

It was far worse than the two losses to Thompson because they were referee stoppages, not flat-out KOs. I was in anguish for months. The urge to box was gone. Totally gone.

"

Yet time heals even the deepest of wounds. Like a jilted lover, Price had to work it out internally before eventually getting back on the horse, so to speak.

The process of coming to terms with the Teper loss was clouded by the revelation that the German boxer had failed not one but two drugs tests, per Phil D Jay of World Boxing News.

The result was eventually changed to a no-contest, although the European Boxing Union continues to record the outcome as a Teper victory, per BoxRec.

For Price, the whole situation was a nasty case of deja vu. Thompson had also tested positive after their rematch in July 2013. The American was given an 18-month ban by the British Boxing Board of Control, but he was able to carry on fighting elsewhere in the world.

That, though, is all in the past. Now Price has to look to the future. He has a new trainer in his corner, having teamed up with David Coldwell. The partnership has its first outing against Vaclav Pejsar, an unknown Czech with a 9-2 record.

The eight-round contest will be Price's first fight on home soil in nearly three years, albeit the Liverpool fan will actually be in action at the ground of his favourite team's city rivals, Everton.

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

At 32, there is still time for the former British and Commonwealth champion to fight for a world title.

There is no interest in going over old ground though, as he told Sky Sports (h/t James Dielhenn of SkySports.com): "I'm not really bothered about going down the British route. If I get put back where I belong before I was cheated, I'm beyond the British route.

"If I have to, then it's a different story. But we'll see that in the not-too-distant future."

Price needs to remind everyone why he was once Britain's big heavyweight hope, before Anthony Joshua arrived on the scene to steal the limelight.

A bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games, Price dazzled to such an extent in his early pro fights that ESPN.com's Dan Rafael named him prospect of the year at the end of 2012.

Now he needs to get back in the ring, exorcise a demon or two and potentially fulfil his obvious potential.

Pejsar shouldn't pose too many problems—he is a safety blanket for someone making a comeback. But, at some stage, Price will come across an opponent who will test his chin again.

While trainer Coldwell can work on improving defensive technique, he cannot reinforce Price's ability to take a punch. Thompson and Teper both found a weak spot, even if their wins have since been tainted.

There isn't much room for error now—one more defeat and it would surely spell the end of the journey for Price, a likeable giant who, for now, seems to have some self-belief back.

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