Audley Harrison

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Audley Harrison
Statistics
Real name Audley Harrison
Nickname A-Force, Fraudley
Weight Heavyweight
Nationality Flag of England English
Birth date October 26, 1971
Birth place London
Style Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights 24
Wins 21
Wins by KO 16
Losses 3
Draws 0
No contests 0
Olympic medal record
Men's boxing
Gold 2000 Sydney Super heavyweight

Audley Harrison, (born on October 26, 1971 in London), was 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. After his Olympic success he turned professional, fighting in Great Briain and America, though without the success of other former Olympic champions.

Contents

[edit] Professional career

After his medal win, Harrison was awarded an MBE and landed a £1 million deal with the BBC to show his first ten professional fights[1]. The first was against US club fighter Michael Middleton, whom Harrison knocked out in the first round.[2] He was then out of action for several months with a pectoral injury, but by the end of the year outpointed Briton Derek McCafferty over six rounds.[3] Harrison was again criticized in the boxing press for his seeming unwillingness to take on his fellow British contenders such as Michael Sprott, Matt Skelton, Trevor Adey, Keith Long, or Pele Reid, who would have given him a real test.

Audley often brings up his past glories of Olympic Champion with quotes such as "they don't give gold medals away". This kind of comment is used to counter crticism about his professional career. It has been noted that although he won the gold medal in Sydney the fighters in the competition were not good enough to make it in the professional fight game. The one noticable fighter whom Harrison fought in his amateur days was Sinan Samil Sam, who beat Harrison on points. This can be compared to other Olympic champions such as Lennox Lewis, who beat World Professional heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe on his way to winning the gold medal.

Harrison continued to fight in 2003, and in February 2004 he took out US club fighter Rob Calloway in 4 rounds,[4] outpointed Ratko Draskovic over 8 slow rounds,[5] 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 for 7 years. A war of words at York Hall, Bethnal Green with the erratic Hide after the Ellis fight resulted in a violent and unsightly riot.[6] The proposed Frank Bruno fight would collapse shortly afterwards, when Bruno was sectioned under the Mental_Health_Act.

[edit] America

Although Harrison's weight was coming down (around 250 lbs), the bad press from the Ellis riot and increasing pressure to fight Hide or British champ Danny Williams resulted in Harrison relocating to the US to "continue his education". This move would be heavily criticised in the press, and bring his willingness to fight a dangerous opponent into question.

He had three more fights in 2003, against veteran journeymen Lisandro Diaz (KO4),[7] Quinn Navarre (KO3),[8] and Brian Nix (KO3),[9] in America. 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 Michael 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.[10] He would defend the title twice: a 12 round points win over 40 year old late-sub Julius Francis,[11], and a 9th round TKO of unknown Tomasz Bonin,[12] both fights being heavily criticised for being slow and dull. After suffering a serious ligament tear in his left hand requiring hand surgery in New York, Harrison 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. By now Harrison had acquired the nickname "Fraudley" and was again criticized for not taking on credible opponents or performing to the standard expected of an Olympic champion. He refused professional management, managing himself through his company "A-Force Promotions", named after the nickname he prefers, 'Audley "A Force" Harrison'. Harrison defending his slow introduction to the professional game by pointing to the need to gain experience gradually.

Harrison resurfaced a year later in June 2005 in the US. He knocked out two journeymen, Robert Davis (KO7)[13] and Robert Wiggins (KO4)[14] 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 Danny 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, but Harrison came back in the next round to throw punches at last 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.[15] 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 crossroads fight for both men, Harrison was again reluctant to throw punches, and was actually being outworked by the notoriously negative Guinn who won on points.[16]

[edit] Comeback

In June Harrison scored a three round knockout of journeyman Andrew Greeley in an off-TV fight in America,[17] 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, Danny Williams replaced him.[18]

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.[19]

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 had been looking to arrange a fight with British Heavyweight Champion Scott Gammer.

On 17 February 2007, he was knocked out by Michael Sprott for the European Union title. Audley came out strongly and knocked Sprott down in the first round, but in the third he was caught by a left hook which knocked Harrison to the canvas. Harrison had thrown his own punch which left him off balance: Sprott slipped this punch whilst throwing his own big left hook catching Harrison flush on the chin with his mouth open. The referee called the fight immediately, it being clear that Harrison would not make the count. Opinion is divided as to how much luck was involved in Sprott landing the punch, but it is generally considered that Harrison left himself too open to the possibility of being hit by a big shot.

This third professional loss leaves Harrison's future uncertain. While giving an interview after his win over Danny Williams in their second fight he proclaimed that 2007 would be his year and he would win a version of the world title - and then would be "undisputed" in 2008.

The loss to Sprott has resulted in Harrison's career faltering once again. Despite Harrison's post-fight claim that he could make a comeback, comments by Frank Warren appear to suggest that any return to the ring would be for a significantly reduced purse.

[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:


[edit] Professional record

Fight 24: 17 Feb 2007 Michael Sprott L KO 3 Wembley Arena

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 Tomas Brolin 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 Rix 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 Cab 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 Arthur 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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified.
  2. ^ Trainer happy with Audley opener. BBC Sport (2001). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  3. ^ Harrison lands quick win. BBC Sport (2002). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  4. ^ web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/2741453.stm|title=Harrison victorious again|accessdate=2007-01-30|publisher=BBC Sport|year=2003}}
  5. ^ Competent win for Harrison. BBC Sport (2003). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  6. ^ Hide fracas mars Harrison victory. BBC Sport (2003). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  7. ^ Easy victory for Harrison. BBC Sport (2003). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  8. ^ Harrison shines in Miami. BBC Sport (2003). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  9. ^ Harrison cruises past Nix. BBC Sport (2003). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  10. ^ Alex Trickett (2004). Harrison takes WBF title. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  11. ^ Harrison toils to victory. BBC Sport (2004). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  12. ^ Audley stops brave Bonin. BBC Sport (2004). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  13. ^ Harrison canters to win on return. BBC Sport (2005). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  14. ^ Harrison too strong for Wiggins. BBC Sport (2005). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  15. ^ Williams revels in Harrison win. BBC Sport (2005). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  16. ^ Dire Harrison outpointed by Guinn. BBC Sport (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  17. ^ Audley returns with knockout win. BBC Sport (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  18. ^ Williams set for Harrison rematch. BBC Sport (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  19. ^ Harrison in bloody Williams win. BBC Sport (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-30.

Amateur fight: 1999 fan Karl Marshall

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/u/d/Audley_Harrison_a596.html"
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