NEW YORK CITY (June 11, 2025) – Immediately after last Friday night’s impressive fourth-round stoppage of Ed “Tex” Fountain, Brooklyn’s undefeated Pryce Taylor (8-0, 5 KOs) was called America’s best heavyweight prospect by his promoter, Dmitriy Salita (Salita Promotions).
The 28-year-old Taylor and his manager, New York City-based Attorney Keith Sullivan, agree with Salita.
“They’re (Salita and Sullivan) both right,” Taylor said, “because they’ve seen me fight. Fighting brings the dog out in me. He (Fountain) was a test, real resilient, but like a punching bag that’s ready to fall off the chain. I had to keep hitting him and no way was he thinking about playing it safe. The referee saved his life; he was thinking about not falling down.”
The powerful Taylor entered the ring paying tribute to the late, great George Foreman by wearing a “Big George” T-shirt. Prior to the fight, Taylor noted that he had great success in the pro ranks fighting southpaws like Fountain. Taylor methodically ripped his opponent’s head and body with damaging punches, hurting Fountain in the third round with a straight right-left hook combination, followed by a barrage of shots on the sturdy Fountain who managed to survive the round.
Fountain (14-9, 7 KOs), who was the best fighter the 6’ 4”, 280-pound Taylor had fought in the pro ranks, was rocked from another series of violent combinations, when referee Charlie Fitch had seen enough and waved off the fight 36-seconds into the fourth frame.
The fight was a scheduled 6-rounder on the “International Boxing Hall of Fame Night,” presented by Taylor’s promoter Salita Promotions, at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
“I was excited to be fighting on a show like that,” Taylor added. “He hit me first in the first round, something I always let my opponents do to test their power, gauge patterns, and figure him out. It’s like in baseball when a batter lets a pitch go by without swinging to see what he has on the mound. Because he’s a southpaw, his right is his jab, and he really wanted to use his left power hook. He had a good poker face, but he couldn’t hide it when I hurt him. He tried not showing he was fazed, keeping himself upright, but he felt my power. I like being accurate, especially throwing power punches. I punished him at the end, throwing a body shot, an uppercut, and then two right hooks.
“I thought George Foreman would have been proud of me and maybe thought he was seeing himself fight when he saw me punch. I put on a show. I’m a combination of Foreman and Muhammad Ali; power punching like Foreman, elusive like Ali with good footwork and light on my toes.
“I’m not sure if this was the best fight of my career, but he was my best opponent and the toughest guy I’ve fought. He came into the ring in good shape and tried to fight. His downfall was Pryce Being Right again. I love throwing my straight right and that keeps opening up my left hook to the body.”
Taylor had a 60-11 amateur record, including a pair of New York Golden Gloves titles, and he was the heavyweight runner-up four times in the prestigious USA Boxing National Championship tournaments.
“Pryce’s TKO win was exactly what I expected – dominant, calculated, and explosive,” Sullivan remarked. “He’s not just another prospect; with continued work, he can be the next great American heavyweight. With every fight, he’s proving that he has the tools, the discipline, and the mindset to be a force within this division. We’re building something special and the world’s about to see it.”
Salita told Taylor that he would be fighting next in his first scheduled 8-round bout on July 26 in Detroit on a Salita Promotions card headlined by undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Claressa Shields (16-0, 3 KOs) versus Lani Daniels (11-2-2, 1 KO) at Little Caesars Arena.
Sullivan, a former Deputy Commissioner for the NYS Athletic Commission, also manages 3-time, 2-division World Champion Miyo Yoshida (18-5) and Bronx NYPD Officer Nisa Rodriguez (3-1, 1 KO), as well as co-managing world-rated (IBF #3 & WBA #10) welterweight contender Paddy “The Real Deal” Donovan (14-1, 11 KOs), from Limerick, Ireland. Sullivan co-manages Donovan with former world middleweight champion Andy Lee, who is also Donovan’s head trainer.
