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Undefeated Heavyweight Prospect Pryce Taylor Graduates To
10-Rounder This Sat. In Atlanta
Undefeated Brooklyn heavyweight prospect Pryce Taylor (11-0,
7 KOs) has graduated to 10-round matches, starting this
Saturday night (May 9) in Atlanta against upset-minded
Calvin Barnett (7-4, 4 KOs).
Taylor vs. Barnett is on a card presented by Taylor’s
promoter, Salita Promotions, which will be streamed on DAZN
live from Gateway Center Arena.
This fight will mark the first scheduled 10-round bout in
Taylor’s relatively short professional career, another goal
that the 29-year-old Taylor will soon attain.
“I feel like this (first slated 10-rounder) means I’ve made
it to the next level,” Taylor said. “I’ve been training to
go 10 rounds, if needed, for a long time and I always pace
myself in fights to try not to do too much. I’m capable of
going 10 rounds, but I always go in the ring trying to end
the fight early.”
A former college basketball, the 6’ 4”, 275-pound Taylor
will face another upset specialist in Barnett, who has
knocked off 2 unbeaten fighters in his last 3 fights, 11-0
Drake Banks (WKO3) and Dominique Valera 8-0-2 (WDEC3).
“Every great heavyweight has a moment where the spotlight
gets brighter, and the competition gets real,” Taylor’s
manager Keith Sullivan commented. “For Pryce Taylor, that
moment is this weekend in Atlanta. I fully expect him to
rise to the moment and show the world he is ready to be the
future of the American heavyweight division. His opponent is
more than a gatekeeper; he is a record destroyer, taking
away his last two opponents’ unblemished records.”
Barnett stands 6’ 3“ and weighs 250-pounds. The dangerous
southpaw is a former Oklahoma State Heavyweight Champion.
“Like some of my other opponents,” Taylor noted, “He looks
good on paper but not when they get in the ring with me.
I’ve fought 4 lefthanded fighters and I have a good straight
right, so he’s no different than some of my opponents.”
Taylor will be fighting for the 8th time in the last 17
months, something the Brooklynite embraces and more.
“I like to fight as often as possible to keep busy,” Taylor
concluded. “The busier I can be keeps me sharp while I gain
more experience.”
Taylor spent a large share of his training camp as a
sparring partner for former World Heavyweight Champion
Deontay Wilder in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (45-4-1, 43 KOs), as
well as undefeated Ukrainian heavyweight prospect Andrii
Novytskyi (16-0, 12 KOs) in Long Beach, California.
Keith Sullivan, a former New York State Athletic Commission
Deputy Commissioner, also manages undefeated 3-time,
2-division World Champion Miyo Yoshida (19-5, 1 KO), Bronx
NYPD officer Nisa Rodriguez (4-1, 2 KOs), Albanian
heavyweight Kristian Prenga (21-1, 21 KOs), lightweight Fei
Faiva (6-0-1, 4 KOs) and junior featherweight prospect
Brooklyn “The Big Deal” Barwick (4-1, 4 KOs). Sullivan
co-manages IBF Welterweight World title challenger Paddy
“The Real Deal” Donovan (14-2, 11 KOs) and his cousin,
middleweight Jim Donovan (2-0, 1 KO), alongside coach and
ex-world champion Andy Lee.
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