By Nate Anderson: In what may be the final nail in the coffin of former 2000 Olympic Gold medalist heavyweight Audley Harrison (23-4, 17 KOs), he was defeated by former Prizefighter’ Heavyweight champion Martin Rogan (11-0, 5 KOs) by a 10-round referee’s decision on Saturday night at the ExCel Arena, Dockland, in London. Rogan, 37, hurt Harrison a couple of times in the fight with big uppercuts and outworked in the vast majority of the rounds.
Audley Harrison
British Fight Night Feast
By Simon Hirst: Whilst tonight is going to remember as the ‘dream match’ between Pac Man and the Golden Boy, for British fans, there are also a lot of good British fights. I know that we have been treated to fights from Britain’s big three throughout November, but for four big British fights to happen on the same night means a big night for British boxing.
In no particular order, I’ll start with Amir Khan’s fight. He takes on the Irish-American Oisin Fagan, who despite a couple of losses, is a decent fighter. Some of the losses on his record have been controversial, his most notable loss coming to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, who Wayne McCullough felt he deserved at least a draw.
James Toney vs. Audley Harrison In October?
By Scott Gilfoid: In what could be a possible fight between two of the older heavyweights in the division, Audley Harrison (23-3, 17 KOs) and James Toney (70-6, 43 KOs) may possibly meet in October, a fight which would be taking place in England if the fight can be made. According to Dan Rafael from ESPN, Toney’s promoter has been in talks with promoter Frank Warren about the potential of matching Harrison, now 36, against the 40 year-old Toney. Both fighters have had their share of bad luck in the last couple of years, with both of them experiencing two losses apiece.
Harrison, a former Olympic gold medal winner in Sydney, looks to have the most left between the two. At 6’5″ 250 lbs, he would have the size and reach to make it very difficult for a fighter as short as the 5’9″ Toney. Neither of these fighters can afford to lose again if they plan on remaining relevant in the heavyweight division. Toney, a former middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champion, hasn’t been nearly as effective in the heavyweight division as he was at the lower weight classes.
Audley Harrison: “I still believe I can become a world champion”
By Nate Anderson: Count me in as one of the few boxing writers that felt that Audley Harrison (23-3, 17 KOs) put on a fine performance last Saturday night against his tough Brazilian opponent George Arias (41-11, 29 KOs) whom he beat by clear cut decision. Harrison looked to be in his finest shape since winning a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Harrison showed better skills than I’ve seen from most of the top heavyweights in the division, including Wladimir Klitschko, Samuel Peter and David Haye.
And though Arias one a few rounds by fighting hard, it was only because Harrison allowed him to by fighting in a relaxed manner. Believe me, Harrison could have won all the rounds if he wanted to, but instead was looking to land a big shot with one of his powerful trademark uppercuts. Harrison afterwards predicted that he’d win a heavyweight title in 2009, something that will no doubt cause more than a few boxing fans to grin. However, I think that Audley is quite capable of pulling it off.
Harrison Defeats Arias
By Chris Williams: Former Olympic Gold Medalist Audley Harrison (23-3, 17 KOs) defeated Brazilian heavyweight George Arias (41-11, 29 KOs) by a 10-round decision on Saturday night at the M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, in Lancashire, United Kingdom. The final scores were 98-94. Although much of the media has criticized the 36 year-old Harrison’s performance, calling it a lackluster win, I beg to disagree with them. Harrison looked impressive against a fighter with a sturdy chin and a style that wasn’t suited to make Harrison look his best.
Other than the 4th, 5th and 9th rounds, in which Harrison took the rounds off to rest a little, he easily dominated the rest of the action with his probing jab, right hook, and left uppercut. Aries, though, a smallish heavyweight at 5’11”, fought hard and gave a good effort of himself. However, he wasn’t nearly in the same class as the former Olympian and never put him in any kind of trouble. If Harrison can be blamed for a pedestrian performance, it’s only because his opponent was so far out of his league. Harrison was able to fight at half speed much of the time and still dominate Aries.
Audley Harrison vs. George Arias On Saturday
By Nate Anderson: Heavyweight Audley Harrison (22-3, 17 KOs) continues his comeback against last minute replacement Brazilian George Arias (41-10, 29 KOs) on Saturday night at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, Lancashire. Harrison needs to not only defeat Arias, but also do it in an impressive manner to try and regain his appeal with the British boxing fans, many of whom have long ago grown tired of Harrison after watching him fight mainly third tier fighters at the start of his career, and then fail several times when he finally stepped it up against quality opposition.
With help from promoter Frank Warren, Harrison may be able to still resurrect his career and line up a future title shot if he can keep winning. That, however, is easier said than done for Harrison, who has been terribly inconsistent since 2005, winning three and losing three – not exactly the type of record that gives on hope that he’ll see much improvement in the future. Audley, though, says he is continuing to improve and learn lessons from his past mistakes.
Audley Harrison – Where did it all go wrong
By Abbas Dadhiwala: When Audley Harrison won the Olympic Heavyweight Gold Medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, he should have been a World Champion within 4 years, but that was not the case and what many believed the start a journey that would lead him to Unifying the Heavyweight Championship of the World just like Lennox Lewis never happened.
After the A-Force won the Gold Medal, he was awarded an MBE and had promoters from all over the World clamoring for his services, these included Don King, Bob Arum and Frank Warren, but Audley decided to go it alone and cut out the middle man. The BBC paid him a million dollars for his first 10 fights and this seemed to be the start of the downfall for Harrison.
Audley Harrison Stops Barnett
By Erik Schmidt: Former 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Audley Harrison (22-3, 17 KOs) returned to his winning ways on Saturday night with a 5th round stoppage over American Jason Barnett (10-7, 4 KOs) at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night. The end came suddenly when Harrison, 36, landed a powerful left uppercut to the midsection of Barnett, 33, dropping him to one knee. Barnett beat the count, getting up at eight but referee Russell Mora had seen enough and stopped the one-sided fight at 1:48 of the 5th round.
Harrison Injured in Automobile Accident, Fight Postponed
35-year old Audley Harrison (21-3, 16 KOs) was injured in an automobile crash while coming out of a training camp in Vero beach, making it necessarily for him to cancel his bout with Paul King (5-18-1, 1 KOs), which had been previously scheduled for September 29th. Harrison, the former 2000 Olympic Gold medallist in the Super heavyweight class, was driving his vehicle onto U.S. Highway 1, when another vehicle failed to give him access onto the highway, resulting in a crash between the two vehicles. Harrison sustained serious injuries to his wrist, hand, shoulder, chest and head. He reportedly had an MRI done on his most serious injury, to his shoulder. At this time, Harrison stated that he’ll need a minimum of six weeks to rehabilitate his injuries enough so that he can continue training and move forward towards his comeback bout. It’s unknown whether that will still involve the journeyman King.
Harrison had recently been stopped in the 3rd round by Michael Sprott on February 17, 2007, wiping out a brief two-fight comeback in which Harrison had won two fights in a row following successive losses to Danny Williams and Dominic Guinn in 2005 and 2006.