By Sean David: Before the inevitable giggles at the thought of heavyweight Audley Harrison entering any type of ring again, just give it a thought.
I have been quite impressed by how many people in the sport have come forward following Audley’s retirement to give him credit, mainly his heart to keep getting back up from knockouts both physical and mental, and most seem to be leaning to the opinion that Audley at one point did indeed possess the skills to make it into the higher tiers of the sport if not the elite level. But for reasons I believe only Audley and perhaps those closest to him know the dizzy heights were never attained, even the man himself has confessed to freezing on occasion.
I don’t believe Audley had the worst chin or terrible skills but more a mental block which built a wall around his confidence one day and despite his best efforts he could not break through. Such barriers can happen to anyone in any walk of life with little or no reason others can understand.
Despite A-Force never quite living up to his promise, potential or even nickname he did achieve things that are no small feat. A former Gold medallist, 2 prize fighter contest wins which despite the criticism they receive for opponent quality. Fighting like that over one night requires more than a little in the tank.
He also did have a strap at a time. Was it the big one? No, but many boxers have entertained us and been talented without lifting the world straps. Because of this perhaps Audley would be suited to a life training young fighters. Even the opinion dividing Deontay Wilder and even more dividing David Haye have come forward to offer some praise to Harrison.
This and other comments from those within the world of prizefighting tells me that despite his flaws, he has managed despite some terrible and embarrassing setbacks to actually leave the sport with some dignity and some pride. His achievements are no easy feat.
This puts A-Force into a great position to use what he has learnt to train and guide the talent of tomorrow weather this be guiding young Olympic hopefuls in the amateur ranks or dipping his toe into the corner of a professional ring.
He must have something to pass on to the next generation he knows the highs and lows to quite an extreme. After all not many fighters leave the sport in such a way after such downfalls, that many corners in the know much more than we still respect and speak well of. The defining comments I read and hear regarding Audley’s career is one of missed potential with none understanding the reason it was never properly utilized.
As said only Audley can answer that to himself and I hope he can as even the most successful of fighters can struggle to come to terms with a life outside the ring.
Without the added strain of knowing they could of achieved so much more. This article will no doubt attract the haters, trolls and general ignorant comments that seem to come to this site, but I would like to know what the real boxing lovers out there in internet land think.
Could we see the A-Force finally deliver on his ability in boxing even if from the other side of the ropes? Either way anyone who will step into the ring and keep trying no matter how many times others put them down. Either opponents or nay sayers deserves respect, and perhaps those who have verbally put Audley down over the years played a part in the downfall of a gifted athlete who failed to deliver or left it to many years to fight through the self doubt.
I was never the biggest Audley fan and thought he should of hung up his gloves when it was evident his opportunity to shine had passed however the past is the past but what now for the man who at one point the whole world was seeing as heir to the heavyweight throne.
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