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Audley's final shot at redemption


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BBC SPORT

Audley's final shot at redemption

By Nabil Hassan

On Friday Audley Harrison will enter the ring at the ExCel Arena against little-known Scott Belshaw knowing he has three fights to save his boxing career.

The 37-year-old lines up alongside Danny Williams, Scott Gammer, Coleman Barrett, Carl Baker, Danny Hughes, Neil Perkins and Belshaw in the latest instalment of the Prizefighter series, which sees eight heavyweights from the British Isles fight it out for a £32,000 first prize.

And Harrison, who has now lost four times in his 27-fight career, including a points defeat to previous Prizefighter champion Martin Rogan last December, knows that anything other than victory will be the final nail in his coffin.

"I had plans to be the heavyweight champion of the world in four or five years and it has not gone the way I wanted but ultimately I still believe I'm going to achieve that goal," says Harrison.

To say it has not gone the way he wanted is something of an understatement.

Harrison has gone from being Britain's charismatic star of the Sydney Olympics to a figure of fun in less than a decade. In truth, the transformation took barely half that time.

Defeat by Williams in 2005 sparked the beginning of his fall from grace and subsequent losses to American Dominick Guinn, fellow Brit Michael Sprott and Belfast cabbie Rogan further sullied his reputation.

Numerous and often outlandish pronouncements in the media have not been backed up in the ring and that has not endeared him to the British public, many of whom cheered openly as they witnessed his fall from grace.

In his latest interview with the BBC he spoke mysteriously of "backlashes from the media", of "walking with a 20 ton weight" on his back. He compared himself to Whitney Houston, and suggested that one day he might tell his story on Oprah.

And while the chance to fight for a world title at this late stage of his career may be unrealistic, Friday at least provides the opportunity to win back some dignity.

"Audley is realistic and he sees this as his last chance," Prizefighter promoter Barry Hearn told BBC Sport.

"He is the finished article that hasn't delivered and he more than anyone is aware of that. This will be the make or break of Harrison.

"Nine years ago did he think he'd be boxing for £32,000? No. I think at this stage in his career he thought he'd be defending his world heavyweight title belts.

"He's got to regroup and ask himself some serious questions. On 2 October those questions will be answered in front of millions of people world-wide.

"If he delivers, he sends a message out. He says 'OK, I've messed up in the past, I've made mistakes, but now I'm the real deal.' But he's got seven other as hungry fighters who are desperate to make a name for themselves."

Those fighters include British champion Williams, who will be putting his title on the line. Williams is a veteran of 49 fights and also knows that, at the age of 36, he is very much in last chance saloon.

Williams and Harrison have fought twice before. The first, a dull affair in 2005, resulted in a points win for Williams, while the second saw Harrison knock out his opponent inside three rounds.

The prospect of the pair meeting up in the final for a three-round slug-fest is mouth-watering, but there are younger men on the bill who are as desperate for victory.

Men like 27-year-old Perkins, who has had just four professional fights, and 26-year-old Irishman Coleman Barrett, who is unbeaten in just eight.

Hearn believes events like Prizefighter, with quarter-finals, semis and final staged over a single evening, can be a shot in the arm for a sport he loves.

"Prizefighter has brought boxing back to the people," said Hearn. "It's normal professional boxing but in an abnormally exhilarating atmosphere.

"When you go to boxing normally a lot of people are in the bar until the main event.

"When you go to Prizefighter you are sat in your seat before the start and you don't move until the finish, because the action is non-stop."

Prizefighter has been growing with each event and moving the night from Bethnal Green's York Hall to the 5,000 capacity ExCel Arena in Docklands because of ticket demand is testimony to this.

Hearn says it has attracted younger fans to the sport, who are more keen on knockouts and 'tear-ups' than what others might regard as more cultured 12-round affairs. For Harrison, it represents a last chance at redemption

"When I turned professional I said I would win a world title and provided I do that then I will be happy with my career," Harrison told BBC Sport.

"My biggest regret is the image that has been portrayed of me out of the ring. I've been stitched up.

"Britain has missed out on having a boxing legend. I've still got time to win a world champion but probably will not have a lasting legacy.

"I was one or two fights away from a world title but my career started to implode out of the ring, not in it. I was ready for the next step up. But I still have time to achieve my goals and will do so."

That remains to be seen, but anything other than victory on Friday will almost certainly mean the end of Harrison's bizarre and evidently tortured journey.

List of competitors for Prizefighter Heavyweights III: Coleman Barrett (Galway, Ireland), Scott Belshaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), Scott Gammer (Pembroke Dock, Wales), Audley Harrison (London), Michael Holden (Manchester), Danny Hughes (Sunderland), Neil Perkins (Birmingham), Danny Williams (Brixton).

Story from BBC SPORT:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi...ing/8274940.stm

When you think the beeb gave Boredly Harrison a million to show his first few fights, what a fall!

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what a pathetic excuse for a boxer. that "fight" with danny williams was the worst boxing match i have ever seen and i watch a fair bit. Only time i have seen audley do anything was in the rematch when he hammered williams. Any other time hes just a run of the mill boxer

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