I want Audley Harrison to do well. Ever since he burst onto the scene after winning olympic gold, I had him marked as a future world champion. When he turned pro he was making slow but steady progress – I thought this should maybe be a bit quicker given his age, but he seemed sure that he was working to a plan and everything was on track.
He had some setbacks in his career that I thought signalled the end, including losses to Danny Williams and a tremendous knockout by Michael Sprott. However, in his second fight against Danny Williams he showed exactly what he was capable of with a stunning 3rd round knockout.
Audley Harrison has genetically got all the tools, and he can be a fantastic outside fighter when he puts classy combinations together. However, on the inside he gets flustered and choses to grab and hold on rather than throw punches. His work rate also drops to such frustrating levels that even if he wins earlier rounds he allows his opponents to get back into the fight.
On Saturday night he lost a points decision to Martin Rogan, the Irish Prizefighter winner. Harrison should be leagues ahead of Rogan, as he won Gold at the Olympics before Rogan had ever laced on a pair of gloves. Harrison hurt Rogan badly in round 2 but then allowed him back into the fight by just not pulling the trigger on his punches. This lead to boos from the crowd, an the majority backing Rogan to win as he was trying to force the fight.
After the fight Audley was still adament that he could still go on to win a world title, but I think that dream has now long past. There have been too many setbacks and it’s too late in his career. To realistically be in a position to challenge for a world title he should have finished Rogan in a few rounds. As for popularity, it’s probably now at an all time low and no one is going to want to see him fight again.
With those types of performances he cannot compete with the likes of David Haye who is basically up against in the same division. I’m sad that Audley didn’t fulfil his vast potential, but he would have to do something very special to turn it around now.
Author:
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Posted in: Boxing News
Tags: audley harrison, career, danny williams, David Haye, martin rogan, michael sprott
