Audley Harrison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's boxing | |||
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | Super heavyweight | |
Audley Hugh Harrison, (born on October 26, 1971 in London), is a British Heavyweight boxer. He was the first Briton to win an Olympic gold medal in the Superheavyweight division since its inception in 1984. He was also the first Briton to take the gold in boxing in 32 years, and the first at the highest weight class since 1920.
He has been criticised in recent years for only fighting weaker opponents. Also in September 2000 he told The Sun newspaper that he was a bully whilst at school and university.
Contents |
[edit] Professional career
Having outpointed Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov in the Sydney 2000 Olympic finals and won the gold medal with millions watching at home on the BBC, Harrison came back to a hero's reception and was featured on many television programmes, magazine covers, and seen at film premieres and the best bars. He signed a million pound/10 fight deal with the BBC and put together his own team consisting of veteran US trainer Thell Torrence and advisor Colin McMillan. He would be criticised by promoter Frank Warren for refusing to sign with anyone and managing and promoting himself. He also made headlines when he claimed he would defeat then-British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Danny Williams "within my first five fights". This would be the beginning of a long and bitter war of words in the press between the two.
Harrison finally turned pro in May 2001 by dispatching of obscure US clubfighter Michael Middleton.[1] He was then out several months with a pectoral injury, but by the end of the year outpointed British journeyman Derek McCafferty over 6 rounds[2] and knocked out Polish Piotr Jurczyk in 2 rounds[3]. By now he was already receiving criticism for his fights. Harrison was overweight (around 260 ibs), tended to fight cautiously, and his opponents were too weak to justify being presented as main event fights.
In 2002 Harrison would fight only 5 times, against 7 foot giant American Julius Long (KO2)[4], undefeated 11-0 Brit Mark Krence (W6)[5], British Cruiserweight Dominic Negus (W6)[6], US journeyman Wade Lewis (KO2)[7], and then he travelled to the US to make his debut, taking on clubfighter Shawn Robinson on a high profile HBO undercard in Atlantic City. The previous year Danny Williams had dispatched Robinson in 2 rounds, but Harrison improved on the result, scoring a dramatic one punch knockout of the far smaller Robinson.[8] Harrison was again criticised in the boxing press for his seeming unwillingness to take on his fellow British contenders such as Michael Sprott, Keith Long, or Pele Reid, who would give him a real test.
In 2003 Harrison continued unabashed, in February 2004 he took out US clubfighter Rob Calloway [9] in 4 rounds, outpointed Ratko Draskovic over 8 slow rounds [10], and knocked out one-time British fringe contender Matt Ellis in 2 rounds. Although Herbie Hide and Danny Williams were calling him out, Harrison was instead trying to arrange a fight with 41 year old ex-World champion Frank Bruno, who had been retired 7 years. A war of words with the erratic Hide after the Ellis fight resulted in a violent and unsightly riot.[11] The proposed Frank Bruno fight would collapse shortly after when Bruno was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
[edit] America
Although Harrison's weight was coming down (around 250 ibs), the bad press from the Ellis riot and increasing pressure to fight Hide or British champ Williams resulted in Harrison relocating to the US to "continue his education". This move would be heavily criticised and derided in the press, and bring his willingness to fight a dangerous opponent into question.
He had 3 more fights in 2003, against veteran journeymen Lisandro Diaz (KO4)[12], Quinn Navarre (KO3)[13], and Brian Nix (KO3)[14], in various American locations. Harrison's technique had appeared to improve, and he was sparring regularly with experienced world class Heavyweights like Vaugn Bean.
Harrison returned to the UK in 2004, but instead of fighting new British champion Sprott for the British title, he fought unknown Dutch fighter Richel Hersisia for the lightly regarded WBF "World" belt. He knocked out Hersisia impressively in 4 rounds.[15] He would defend the title twice, a 12 round points win over 40 year old late-sub Julius Francis [16], and a 9th round TKO of unknown Tomasz Bonin[17], both fights were heavily criticised for being slow and dull. After suffering a serious ligament tear in his left hand, requiring subsequent hand surgery in New York, he was forced to put his career on hold for almost a year. During this time he was dropped by the BBC, who decided after their experience with Harrison, to take all boxing off their schedule permanently.
Harrison resurfaced a year later in June 2005 in the US. He knocked out two journeymen Robert Davis (KO7)[18] and Robert Wiggins (KO4)[19]on The Best Damn Sports Show Period, and said he was now ready to step up and face world class opponents and get a title shot. However Harrison was unable to get a big fight with anyone, and with his career progressing nowhere, he was forced to return to the UK in December to face long time bitter rival Williams in London.
[edit] Losses
Fighting for the Commonwealth title, the fight proved infamous for its lack of action, and Harrison's negative performance. In the 10th round Williams decked Harrison, however he came back in the next round to finally throw punches and hurt Williams. The fight was difficult to score and Harrison lost a close, split decision to the delight of the crowd, who had begun to see Harrison as the bad guy in British boxing for his big talk but failure to deliver. [20] Following the fight he was heavily criticised by a number of leading figures in British boxing; including ex-fighters Barry McGuigan and Chris Eubank.
In April 2006 Harrison travelled to the US and tried save his career by taking on one-time hot prospect Dominick Guinn. Guinn had won 24 fights in a row until his own negative style led to a couple of key points defeats against Monte Barrett and James Toney. In an important cross roads fight for both men, Harrison was again reluctant to throw punches, and posed and smiled his way to a points loss, actually being outworked by the notoriously negative Guinn.[21]
[edit] Comeback
In June Harrison scored a 3 round knockout of journeyman Andrew Greeley in an off-TV fight in the US,[22] and was poised for a fight with Matt Skelton to try to resurrect his career. Skelton had beaten Danny Williams in July, winning the title Williams had earlier taken from Harrison. When Skelton dropped out only one week before the fight due to injury however, Danny Williams replaced him.[23]
Williams by his own admission had trained 8 weeks for a fight with British champ Scott Gammer, however this time around Harrison fought far more aggressively, decking Williams twice and winning on a third round knockout. Williams suffered a broken nose and severe lacerations.[24]
Following the victory over Williams, Harrison signed a promotional deal with boxing promoter Frank Warren with the aim of getting Harrison a world title fight in 2007. Warren and Harrison are looking to arrange a fight with British Heavyweight Champion Scott Gammer in February 2007. If this fight results in a victory for Harrison, Warren hopes to arrange a fight with Matt Skelton which would act as a world title eliminator, the winner would then face one of the world heavyweight champions with Harrison preferring a fight with fellow olympic gold medalist Wladimir Klitschko.[25]
[edit] Amateur career
- 1998 at the European Super Heavyweight Championships in Minsk, Belarus, lost to Serguei Lyakhovich (Belarus)
- 1998 Commonwealth Games Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist. Results were:
- Defeated Fai Falamoe (New Zealand) points
- Defeated Jim Whitehead (Australia) KO 3
- Defeated Michael Macquae (Mauritius) KO 1
- 1999 competed at the World Championships in Houston, United States. Results were:
- Defeated Lazizbek Zokirov (Uzbekistan) points
- Lost to Sinan Samil Sam (Turkey) points
- Won the Super Heavyweight Gold Medal representing Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Results were:
- Defeated Alexei Lezin (Russia) TKO 4
- Defeated Alexey Mazikin (Ukraine) points
- Defeated Paolo Vidoz (Italy) points
- Defeated Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov (Kazakhstan) points
[edit] Professional Record
Fight 23: 09 Dec 2006 Danny Williams W TKO 3 London
Fight 22: 09 Jun 2006 Andrew Greeley W KO 3 Atlantic City, USA
Fight 21: 14 Apr 2006 Dominic Guinn L UD 10 Rancho Mirage, USA
Fight 20: 10 Dec 2005 Danny Williams L SD 12 London
Fight 19: 18 Aug 2005 Robert Wiggins W TKO 4 San Jose, USA
Fight 18: 09 June 2005 Robert Davis W TKO 7 Temecula, USA
Fight 17: 19 June 2004 Tomasz Bonin W TKO 9 London (WBF)
Fight 16: 08 May 2004 Julius Francis W PTS 12 Bristol (WBF)
Fight 15: 20 Mar 2004 Richel Hersisia W KO 4 Wembley Arena (WBF)
Fight 14: 12 Dec 2003 Brian Nix W TKO 3 Laughlin, USA
Fight 13: 03 Oct 2003 Lisandro Diaz W TKO 4 Las Vegas, USA
Fight 12: 09 Sep 2003 Quinn Navarre W KO 3 Miami
Fight 11: 31 May 2003 Mathew Ellis W TKO 2 London
Fight 10: 29 Mar 2003 Ratko Draskovic W PTS 8 London
Fight 9: 08 Feb 2003 Rob Calloway W TKO 4 London
Fight 8: 23 Nov 2002 Shawn Robinson W TKO 1 Atlantic City, USA
Fight 7: 05 Oct 2002 Wade Lewis W TKO 2 Liverpool
Fight 6: 10 Jul 2002 Dominic Negus W PTS 6 London
Fight 5: 21 May 2002 Mark Krence W PTS 6 London
Fight 4: 20 Apr 2002 Julius Long W TKO 2 London
Fight 3: 20 Oct 2001 Piotr Jurczyk W TKO 2 Glasgow
Fight 2: 22 Sep 2001 Derek McCafferty W PTS 6 Newcastle
Fight 1: 19 May 2001 Mike Middleton w TKO 1 London
