David Haye confirms Audley Harrison
It would seem pigs really do fly as Audley Harrison gets a world-title shot. In a press conference today David Haye confirmed everyone’s worst fears and dealt another blow to the integrity of the heavyweight division by setting up a defence of his WBA title against A-Force.
Ask your average man in the street about Harrison their response will most likely be: “Is he still going? He wasn’t very good was he?” While the boxing fan will tell you he got this title tilt following his victory in Prizefighter via a fortuitous knockout which gave him a European title shot against Michael Sprott, which he won with another, very late fortuitous knockout.
We are talking a man who at the ‘peak’ of his career lost to a Belfast taxi driver. The eye of the tiger cliché is banded around in boxing, Harrison goes in with the eye of the mouse, entering the ring he normally looks terrified and throughout his career he has failed to use his big frame to full effect bar his career saving piledriver to Sprott.
It was all so different ten years ago; Harrison was the nation’s sweetheart having won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. A giant of a man at 6ft 5in with an 86-inch reach and power to burn Harrison looked the real deal and the natural successor to Lennox Lewis both domestically and internationally. He became a talk-show regular, released an autobiography and signed a £1million deal with the BBC for a 10-fight deal, and then it came crashing down.
Harrison never got out of second gear in the ring. When turning pro you need tomato cans and journeymen to refine your technique before heading to the elite, but Harrison never got past the journeymen. His fights were so bad the BBC hasn’t shown boxing since.
The nation lost interest and defeats to Danny Williams, Dominick Guinn, Sprott and Martin Rogan looked to have put pay to A-force’s career, until last year he gave it all he had with his Prizefighter comeback.
While Harrison was in the midst of glory he befriended a young David Haye and put him on his undercard. However in a dramatic twist with Harrison fallen from grace and needing a break from Haye who was now a superstar, the favour was not reciprocated. Hence their dislike of one another.
The Hayemaker should know better than this though, he thinks the fans will be flocking to part with their cash for this one, but all Harrison has is a puncher's chance against Haye’s questionable chin, which has held up ok for a number of years now. It’s a fight no-one outside the UK will want to see and disrespectful to genuine contenders such as Alexander Povetkin, Tomasz Adamek and Ruslan Chagaev.
Of course it’s the Klitschkos everyone wants to see The Hayemaker fight; either one will do. That’s the fight that should happen, instead Hayes looked towards Harrison.
David Haye said: “I don’t believe Audley deserves a shot, unfortunately for him, or maybe fortunately for him, enough people in Britain want to see him get annihilated, that’s why this fight is happening.
“People want to see me close the door on the joke that is the Audley Harrison show, that’s what I am going to do”.
Audley Harrison replied: “I am happy to be here, ecstatic to get a world title shot. I have tasted David Haye's power and punches in training and they never ever hurt me.
“It’s my destiny, November the 13th Audley Harrison the new heavyweight champion of the world.”
Things got heated in the press conference with both boxers arguing and swearing with each other, Haye telling Harrison he is going to “embarrass” him while Harrison said he “knows Haye has a suspect chin” and feels he can use his left jab to “fulfil my destiny”.
What remains to be seen is if the fans buy into this, if this fight makes major money, because aside from the novelty factor Harrison is not a box office name anymore. Haye will have to annihilate the former Olympian or he is going to look very foolish and if Harrison does somehow throw out a huge bomb and floors the champ then it is career over for The Hayemaker.
Underwhelmed is the general consensus as big time boxing is again replaced by a lopsided affair. A-force is a ghost of boxing past and Haye is relying on Harrison not coming back to haunt him.
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