He signed a ￡1million (US$1.60 million) deal with the BBC, released a book and set up his own promotion company.
The deal proved spectacularly ill-advised, the book sank without trace and 2000 Olympic super-heavyweight boxing gold medalist Audley Harrison was widely derided after a series of mismatches over the course of a decade against some woeful opponents.
Now, to general disbelief, the 39-year-old Briton known variously as “Fraudley Audley,” “Ordinary” and “Audrey” “is just one punch away from becoming a world heavyweight champion.
Harrison fights compatriot David Haye, a former world cruiserweight champion, in Manchester today for the WBA heavyweight title.
Harrison has never lacked self-belief, constantly reinventing himself in the face of widespread skepticism, and believes it is his destiny to win a world title. He is also undeniably talented, although his persistent reluctance to throw a serious punch infuriates fans.
There also exists in some quarters a sneaking admiration for the sheer gall of a man who earned a small fortune for doing very little.
The key for Harrison has been to do just enough often enough to keep himself in contention for a title shot in the fractured world of modern prize fighting with its various governing bodies.
He has also been helped by the apparent unwillingness of contenders in the heavyweight division, including Haye, to tangle with IBF, WBO and IBO champion Vladimir Klitschko. To add to the confusion, Klitschko’s elder brother Vitali is the WBC champion.
Haye, 30, has said he is desperate to fight one of the Klitshckos before retiring. The Ukrainian brothers believe Haye has no intention of fighting either of them. Instead Vladimir is scheduled to fight another Briton, Zimbabwe-born Dereck Chisora, on Dec. 11.
The plethora of available titles only helps Harrison. Clearly, nobody can be called a true world champion unless they defeat Vladimir Klitschko, a worthy successor to the great heavyweights of the past although the division has probably never been weaker.
Even one heavyweight belt would, to Harrison, justify him in the eyes of the world.
Harrison has lost to Danny Williams, Dominick Guinn, Michael Sprott and Martin Rogan, none of whom could be described as luminaries of the ring.
Yet a number of judges believe that Harrison has the height, strength and skills to beat Haye.
This belief is derived mainly from Harrison’s performance against Michael Sprott this year in a fight for the vacant European title.
Harrison was behind on all three cards going into the final round. He was also forced to fight as a southpaw from the second of the 12 rounds after injuring his right shoulder.
From this seemingly impossible position, Harrison threw a stunning left hook which sent Sprott sprawling on the canvas.
A similar punch today and Harrison will be a world champion.
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
Marc Marquez continued his winning streak as he cruised to victory in the Hungarian GP sprint by two seconds on Saturday night to pad his championship lead. It was a seventh straight Sprint victory for the Spaniard, who has also won the last six longer Sunday grand prix races on his factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio, an Italian with the VR46 Ducati satellite team was a distant second at Balaton Park, followed by his team-mate and compatriot Franco Morbidelli third. Marquez, a six-time world champion, started the race from pole position. “I felt someone really close on the first corner, from there I
RSS