Harrison could be in for a Sprott of bother
Former Olympic champion Audley Harrison is set to make his comeback to the ring on Friday night when he takes on Michael Sprott for the vacant European heavyweight title. Harrison was originally slated to fight pole Albert Sosnowski, however he pulled out to face Vitali Klitschko and so it is Sprott who will now take on Harrison.
Sprott and Harrison have previously met before, in 2007, with Sprott winning by a third-round knockout. It looked like it may have been the end of Harrison’s career but he has subsequently made a comeback by winning the Prizefighter competition in 2009.
Harrison has said: "I'm calling this revenge or retirement; if I can't get revenge over Michael Sprott then my career can't go forward.
"If I can't beat him then there's nowhere else to go. That's the mentality I'm going in the ring with - I have to go and win this to move to the next level.
"I will retire if I don't win this so we know what's going to happen - I'm going to win this fight, no doubt.
"I've been looking forward to avenging that defeat and the fact it's for a European title is a double boost for me. “
It would mark a remarkable return for the former gold medallist. Following defeats to Sprott and Martin Rogan it didn’t seem like Harrison would fight again, however despite being in his late 30’s the Londoner still thinks he can compete for a world title.
Harrison said: "Everyone is talking about the Klitschko brothers so these are the guys that I will be targeting.
"I would love to fight David Haye but... the real champions are the Klitschko brothers."
Working off of Harrison’s quotes it would seem that he views this bout as a ticket to a world title shot. For both boxers this is probably their final shot at major honours and there is probably little chance either will fight on if they are defeated.
Meanwhile Sprott has said: "I'm very confident that what happened last time is going to happen again - only this time I will knock him out quicker."
Last time out Sprott landed a huge left hook that caught Harrison unawares, and he was out for much longer than the allotted 10 second count. However up until that point Harrison had had the better of the fight and he even knocked Sprott down in the first round.
Neither fighter is blessed with much athleticism or movement and so this fight will be based purely on strength and trading blows. It doesn’t promise to be much of a spectacle as both boxers will be jabbing and clinching for the majority of the fight, looking for the chance to throw haymakers.
Failure to beat Sprott will more than likely result in the end of Harrison’s career and it would be a disappointing end to a disappointing professional spell for the champion of the Sydney Olympics.
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