Price makes knockout comeback

David Price took a big step forward on the road to recovering from his devastating successive defeats to Tony Thompson by claiming an easy first-round knockout victory against stand-in Istvan Ruszinski.

The 30-year-old Olympic bronze medallist appeared destined for a world title shot until American veteran Thompson intervened in brutal fashion last year as he dealt him back-to-back stoppage defeats.

Liverpudlian Price was supposed to be fighting Konstantin Airich in Stuttgart but the Kazakh failed a medical, meaning Ruszinski stepped in. The Hungarian had been set to fight Swede Otto Wallin in a four-rounder on the undercard.

But Ruszinski found himself down on the canvas two-thirds of the way into the first round courtesy of a short right hook from Price and the referee promptly waved for the end of the contest.

It was a first ever professional fight outside of the United Kingdom for Price, who vacated his British and Commonwealth titles after his second loss to Thompson in order to rebuild his career against lower-level opponents.