Audley Harrison hints at retirement after weekend bout
Audley Harrison has given the boxing world something to contemplate when he takes on WBA heavyweight champion David Haye this weekend.
If he beats Haye, he may hang up the gloves for good.
“When I win the world heavyweight title on Saturday, I will have achieved all I ever said I wanted to,” Harrison said in a Sun UK article. “Winning this fight will complete the journey. I would really have to motivate myself to say I want to go on."
Harrison, 39, will be a major underdog on Saturday when he faces off against Haye, who is considered the much more impressive fighter.
Haye, by most measures, is at the peak of his career. He won his title by defeating Nikolai Valuev in November 2009, after which he signed on for a fight with Harrison when negotiations with Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko failed to come to fruition.
Harrison predicted beating Haye, adding: “This will be the greatest sporting comeback of all time. I will be the first British Olympic gold medallist in history to go on and win a world title. My legacy will be secured."
For his part Haye won’t make it easy on Harrison. He said recently that he thinks, based on Harrison’s prediction, the British fighter is crazy. “He's genuinely not making any sense, he's lost his marbles,” Haye said. “The pressure is getting to him.
I think he's cracking under the pressure.”
Harrison will be looking to revitalize his career. In his last 12 outings he is 8-4. After winning the gold medal it was thought he would become a massive boxing superstar, but the reality of his career has told a different story, as he has struggled with
journeyman and become a domestic fighter.
Harrison will hope to catch the quicker Haye with a right hand and tire him out with his size throughout the fight.
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