By Oli Smith
The anticipation for this Prizefighter event had been steadily building since Mike Tyson made the official draw. The Excel Arena in London would play host to the event after the York Hall sold out within hours. This tournament was sold largely on the basis of an Audley Harrison and Danny Williams rubber match, reputations, ability and experience gave the appearance that the other fights would just be formalities, appetizers for the main course. The Prizefighter tournament has a funny way of disposing with the form book, odds are thrown out the window as fighters go for broke over three rounds. In such a short amount of time - every punch counts.
Scott Gammer Vs. Coleman Barrett was drawn first and both men entered the ring looking very confident. Barrett came into the competition undefeated, a relative unknown, comparisons had been drawn with former Prizefighter winner Martin Rogan. Former British champ, Scott Gammer held a two-stone weight advantage and towered above the tough former Cruiserweight, Barrett. The fight started quickly, as Barrett demonstrated his reputation for fast hands. Gammer never looked comfortable with the southpaw stance presented to him and would often struggle with the rugged Irishman.
Barrett worked behind his jab and kept his feet constantly moving, forcing Gammer to plod forward. When Gammer’s shots did land, the discrepancy in power became obvious; his clubbing right hands knocking the smaller man back several paces. Ultimately, the template for the fight had already been set as Barrett looked to have the last word in every exchange, he countered where necessary and jabbed his way to a comfortable points victory. Each judge scoring 28-29 in favor of the underdog. Prizefighter has claimed its first scalp and with it, the first upset of the night, as Gammer went home early.
Next up saw tournament favorite and current British champion Danny Williams take on the only man to weigh more than him in the competition, Carl Baker. Baker was the rank outsider in the lead up to tonight coming in at 40/1 to lift the silverware. All 20-stone, seven-pounds of Baker had other ideas, the man nicknamed “The Fridge” intended to cause a major upset. Within twenty seconds of the opening bell he was on his way to causing one. Williams let his experience abandon him as he looked to telegraph haymakers from the opposite side of the ring. Roy Jones Jr could often catch his opponents unawares from obscene distances. Danny Williams is not Roy Jones, as evidenced by the short, powerful right hand that caught him high on the head and sent him sprawling onto the canvas.
Having beaten the count although clearly still hurting, Williams went into survival mode as Baker assaulted him relentlessly. Seconds later “The Fridge” had clubbed Williams to the floor again, if Baker had more craft, more experience or just a little more patience, he could have taken Williams out before the bell sounded for the first round. As it happens, Williams was able to hold and spoil enough to make it through the round. It was only as his head cleared did he become competitive, it was a shame that this coincided with the start of the third round rather than the second. Nonetheless Williams stalked his prey clubbing Baker and testing his will throughout the final round. Williams was seemingly incapable of calling upon his vast experience to finish the job and Carl Baker took the points victory.
Audley Harrison made his return to a boxing ring after moving out to California to train, Scott Belshaw would be his opponent, a man last seen getting stopped by Tyson Fury in two rounds. Nonetheless, Belshaw started aggressively, pursuing Harrison around the ring, who looked noticeably uncomfortable under any sort of pressure. With a style reminiscent of the Klitschko, Harrison kept his man back, working behind the jab, never looking for opportunities; he would wait for an opening to present itself.
His patient style paid off towards the end of the first as a well timed left hand crashed through Belshaw’s guard and sent him reeling to the floor. The crowd cheered, expecting a clinical finish, it didn’t come because Harrison didn’t push for it and Belshaw is well schooled enough not to present it. Scott Belshaw instead came on as the aggressor, pressing the pace and looking to test Harrison’s suspect chin, in doing so he walked onto another peach of a left hand, this time he wouldn’t be allowed to carry on as the fight was waved off at 3.00 of the second round.
The final fight of the first round was against two undefeated, yet untested novices a fight which would be the most spectacular of the evening. Neil Perkins and Danny Hughes had met as sparring partners in the past. There was no love lost between them tonight as Danny Hughes went straight to work landing heavy blows, slicing through the defense of the smaller, outgunned Perkins. A massive haymaker knocked the sense out of Perkins who tumbled to the floor. Desperately he tried to beat the count as his legs and arms betrayed him, standing up at the count of nine, the fight was waived off, as he clearly had all his resistance beaten out of him by the fleshy yet hard hitting Danny Hughes.
The first Semi-final of the evening would pit the heaviest man against the lightest. All told, a five-stone weight advantage was held by Carl Baker, who made Coleman Barrett look like a waif. Size isn’t everything however, Barrett had clearly been training for the long haul, he had only stopped two opponents previously and was never in any danger of stopping this one. Instead he worked tirelessly in and out of range, keeping Baker moving, where clearly fitness was a factor. Midway through the second round fatigue started to kick in for Baker who was breathing heavily and moving with less and less urgency. Barrett showed he had yet another gear, taking the fight to the bigger man, utilising his superior hand speed and agility, he created space for his shots and broke his man down. Baker had effectively become a punching bag. Coleman Barrett dispatched another Prizefighter on points and told the world he still had plenty in the tank for the victor of the second Semi-final.
Danny Hughes and Audley Harrison made for compelling viewing, if only to see how Audley would handle an aggressive young fighter, when he clearly doesn’t like getting hit. What transpired was Harrison’s best form of the tournament; he delivered a lesson in neutralizing an opponent’s strengths and showed enough aggression to win a few cheers from the crowd. Hughes never gave up; he just didn’t have the experience to show Harrison something new. What had blasted away the novice Neil Perkins clearly wasn’t going to fly against a man with an amateur pedigree like Harrison. Once again the former Olympic gold medalist waited for the opportunity to present itself, once it did, he sent Hughes reeling, the same shot that felled Belshaw twice - the over hand left. Harrison again chose not to go in for the kill, though he stalked his opponent until the final bell sounded. A points win for Harrison sent him through to the final fight.
In a night of shocks and upsets, one of the favorites had made it through to the final bout. Much like Martin Rogan before him, Coleman Barrett looked to seize the trophy; he had come from relative obscurity and was 9 minutes away from changing his life. Like his previous fights, Barrett started quickly, demonstrating the hand speed that had troubled Gammer and Baker. What looked like an intentional head butt from Barrett would be the first real action of the fight, ref Dave Parris didn’t deduct a point however.
In stark contrast to the match that had just taken place, Harrison looked like he didn’t want to be in the ring anymore, he was seemingly uninterested in engaging Barrett or putting up any kind of a fight. Audley lost the first round and was well on his way to losing the second as Barrett showed no sign of relenting. Just like before though, Harrison had a little something up his sleeve. As Barrett dived in to work the body, a thunderous left hand from Harrison connected on his jaw and separated the Irishman from his senses. Having laid dormant for most of the match up, Harrison came alive for a brief second to end the proceedings. Ref Dave Parris waived the bout off, though Barrett had just managed to beat the count.
What started off as a night of unexpected thrills ended as planned, with tournament front runner Audley Harrison announcing his return to British Heavyweight boxing. Ultimately though, this tournament is made to suit Harrison’s strengths. As an amateur, he found ways to win in four short rounds; this time round he did it in three. Harrison’s intentions have always been to win a world title. Tonight he showed flashes of the class and pedigree that could take him there. Unfortunately, it takes more than flashes of brilliance to win World titles especially when the men holding them are mostly named Klitschko.