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One of the things I find most frustrating on here is people expressing opinions about boxers - usually English boxers - when they've never seen the fighter before and know next to nothing about them. Too many times I've read someone blasted as a "bum" based on little more than a glance at their boxrec record.
Yet there's one exception... Audley Harrison. Or Tawdry Embarrassin' if you want to be cruel. I've seen the majority of his eighteen bouts - I think I've seen sixteen of 'em to be honest - so I should have a fair idea of whether he's any good or not. The only thing is... I haven't got a clue.
Is he talented? Sure, he's got technical skill. The guy's a 6'5 1/2 inch Olympic Gold Medal winner with a 83" reach, for goodness' sake. And at 33 even though he's taking his time, he's still relatively young for the increasingly older Heavyweight division.
But he's still yet to have a competitive bout four years after turning pro, his chin is untested and he doesn't like to appear to get involved. In fact, Audley seems to regard the sport as such a technical chess match that he makes Lennox Lewis look like the ultimate intuitive, bloods and guts warrior.
At times likeable, at other times a silly ass who refers to himself in third person while boasting about lofty ambitions that are then never fulfilled, it really is impossible to get a fix on this guy. But from his pro debut in May 2001 (A 1st round TKO of Mike Middleton in London - the average rounds for a Harrison fight is four, though that's not saying much in regards the competition) to a 7th round TKO of Robert Davis in Temecula, CA last month, here's the five most memorable Harrison moments for me:
1. The Hide Riot: For legal reasons I can't specify exactly what happened, as it's still unclear and varying reports emerged. But what we do know is that after beating Matthew Ellis in two rounds on 31st May 2003, Audley asked the audience to pick his next opponent out of two "domestic rivals". Into the ring stepped the perennially popular Frank Bruno, who had recently announced a three-part plan to beat Harrison to regain a ranking, then defeat Tyson in a rematch and beat Lennox Lewis to become champion of the world. Sadly, Bruno was later diagnosed with mental health issues, but for this one night the crowd got behind him and completely ignored Hide. Hide, incensed, began a furious argument with Harrison at the ringside. What happened next was that - whether the volatile Hide started it or Harrison's security were to blame - a full scale riot kicked off, with even the commentary crew having to leg it as their table was thrown in the air.
2. Audley cuts loose. July 2002 and the painfully methodical Audley finally breaks free of his scientific chains. After dropping opponent Dominic Negus onto one knee in the fourth, Tawdry shamefully hits him while he's down. Negus, furious, attempts to headbutt Audley. For once Harrison drops the guarded approach and loses it, getting stuck in for a few seconds. Now... if only he did that more often. Negus's post-bout interview was particularly amusing, with claims that his grandmother hits harder than Harrison.
3. Wind-up Audley gets wound up. The relationship with Audley Harrison and the BBC was always shaky to say the least, even just little things like an interview accidentally calling him "Audrey". But with a three-way interview session between Herbie Hide, Danny Williams and Harrison, Audley speaks on a phone-in, claiming that "Danny Williams is ready to be taken." Williams, who hadn't actually shown he had a sense of humour at this point, enjoys winding up Audley with "Yeah, I am, Audley... I'm waiting for you to come and take me." This was the height of Audley's "pissy" phase, where he would regularly snap and snarl at BBC interviewers (who were understandably disappointed in his standard of competition given that they'd paid him a million pounds) and went into a "tit for tat" war with Danny after Danny was critical of one of his fights. The BBC, well aware of what it means to stir the ****, would then employ both of them for a post-bout summary of the others' fights... and sat back to watch them slag each other off regularly. Harrison was eventually dropped by the BBC, along with all of their boxing.
Yet there's one exception... Audley Harrison. Or Tawdry Embarrassin' if you want to be cruel. I've seen the majority of his eighteen bouts - I think I've seen sixteen of 'em to be honest - so I should have a fair idea of whether he's any good or not. The only thing is... I haven't got a clue.
Is he talented? Sure, he's got technical skill. The guy's a 6'5 1/2 inch Olympic Gold Medal winner with a 83" reach, for goodness' sake. And at 33 even though he's taking his time, he's still relatively young for the increasingly older Heavyweight division.
But he's still yet to have a competitive bout four years after turning pro, his chin is untested and he doesn't like to appear to get involved. In fact, Audley seems to regard the sport as such a technical chess match that he makes Lennox Lewis look like the ultimate intuitive, bloods and guts warrior.
At times likeable, at other times a silly ass who refers to himself in third person while boasting about lofty ambitions that are then never fulfilled, it really is impossible to get a fix on this guy. But from his pro debut in May 2001 (A 1st round TKO of Mike Middleton in London - the average rounds for a Harrison fight is four, though that's not saying much in regards the competition) to a 7th round TKO of Robert Davis in Temecula, CA last month, here's the five most memorable Harrison moments for me:
1. The Hide Riot: For legal reasons I can't specify exactly what happened, as it's still unclear and varying reports emerged. But what we do know is that after beating Matthew Ellis in two rounds on 31st May 2003, Audley asked the audience to pick his next opponent out of two "domestic rivals". Into the ring stepped the perennially popular Frank Bruno, who had recently announced a three-part plan to beat Harrison to regain a ranking, then defeat Tyson in a rematch and beat Lennox Lewis to become champion of the world. Sadly, Bruno was later diagnosed with mental health issues, but for this one night the crowd got behind him and completely ignored Hide. Hide, incensed, began a furious argument with Harrison at the ringside. What happened next was that - whether the volatile Hide started it or Harrison's security were to blame - a full scale riot kicked off, with even the commentary crew having to leg it as their table was thrown in the air.
2. Audley cuts loose. July 2002 and the painfully methodical Audley finally breaks free of his scientific chains. After dropping opponent Dominic Negus onto one knee in the fourth, Tawdry shamefully hits him while he's down. Negus, furious, attempts to headbutt Audley. For once Harrison drops the guarded approach and loses it, getting stuck in for a few seconds. Now... if only he did that more often. Negus's post-bout interview was particularly amusing, with claims that his grandmother hits harder than Harrison.
3. Wind-up Audley gets wound up. The relationship with Audley Harrison and the BBC was always shaky to say the least, even just little things like an interview accidentally calling him "Audrey". But with a three-way interview session between Herbie Hide, Danny Williams and Harrison, Audley speaks on a phone-in, claiming that "Danny Williams is ready to be taken." Williams, who hadn't actually shown he had a sense of humour at this point, enjoys winding up Audley with "Yeah, I am, Audley... I'm waiting for you to come and take me." This was the height of Audley's "pissy" phase, where he would regularly snap and snarl at BBC interviewers (who were understandably disappointed in his standard of competition given that they'd paid him a million pounds) and went into a "tit for tat" war with Danny after Danny was critical of one of his fights. The BBC, well aware of what it means to stir the ****, would then employ both of them for a post-bout summary of the others' fights... and sat back to watch them slag each other off regularly. Harrison was eventually dropped by the BBC, along with all of their boxing.
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