So Audley wants the Klitschkos? Oh dear, oh dear.
Audley Harrison and Albert Sosnowski
Now I know being a heavyweight champion by-and-large requires a certain kind of self-confidence and arrogance, but you’ve got to be there first. Quotes like this…
“No disrespect to David Haye, but no-one is talking about David Haye,” said Harrison, an Olympic champion in 2000.
…do you no favours Audley. Haye is by far the best chance British boxing has had to produce a Heavyweight champion. Yeah he’s brash, yeah he’s sometimes offensive, but he has the skills to back it all up. At Cruiserweight he got back up off the floor to beat Mormeck in France and take the belt, and he’s already beaten Valuev. Ok, that wasn’t the greatest fight in the world, but it showed that he’s got the brains and endurance to make it as a champion. Anyway, this isn’t about Haye, it’s about Harrison. If (IF) he beats Sosnowski, does he really think the Klitschkos are going to be beating a path to his door to get a fight arranged? What’s in it for them? A fight against someone who was a good amateur but has been a terrible pro? Dream on Audley.
I went to London last year to watch Audley’s ‘last chance’ when he fought in the Prizefighter tournament. Danny Williams was an embarrassment to himself more than anything, but I was keen to see how Harrison would fair after so long away from competition. My overriding feeling at the end of the tourney was one of ‘well, it was ok….’. He just comes across as mediocre, and it’s frustrating as much as anything. He’s got a hell of a punch on him, but he never seems to want to throw it. Watching him plod around the ring soaking up shots and never going on the offensive makes me want to tear what remains of my hair out. He needs some fire in his belly! The punch he threw to knock the other guy out in the final of Prizefighter was a peach, but why did it take so long to come? The same goes for his pro fights, it’s infuriating to watch. It’s no wonder MMA is taking so much attention away from boxing when you’ve got lumbering bulks leaning on each other for twelve rounds – remember Williams v Skelton? *shudder*
I think if Harrison wants to fight the Klitschkos he should have to go through Haye first, and that’s a fight I’d pay to watch! The Heavyweight division is stale at the moment, and that’s a result of the lack of decent American fighters and the showmanship and over-the-top hype they bring to the ring. Here’s hoping Audley turns it on and produces a demolition in April, but sadly I think hoping is all it’s going to be. Please prove me and the rest of the British public wrong.
“I want to get my London fans in their St George’s T-shirts and I want to get nostalgic and hear chants of ‘Audley’, ‘Audley’, ‘Audley’.
“I want to hear the fans of boxing, the fans of Audley, the fans of perseverance and the fans of overcoming adversity and get back to boxing.”
If you want to hear them, put on a boxing display, otherwise the only chant you’re going to hear will be ‘Auuuuudreeeeey, Auuudreeeeeeeey’ again.