Heavyweight boxer, Audley Harrison, is sure that he will win the support of the British boxing community, beginning with his fight against fellow Brit and heavyweight rival, Michael Sprott on Saturday.
Audley Harrison is now 35 and it was not so long ago that he won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. He will challenge Sprott for the European Union titles at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.
Audley Harrison said: “It would nice to have the fans on my side. This is my home turf and there will be a lot of Audley fans there. If people don’t like me I can’t really do much about it, but eventually people will appreciate me”
Watch the interview with Audley Harrison.
This Olympic champion has been forced to endure a lot of criticism before he stopped Danny Williams in the third round of their fight in December.
But this performance may have made boxing fans think differently
“Last time, by the time I left the ring, I heard a lot of ‘Audley’ chants. But the reality of it is, this is me. I’m not chasing fame or publicity and hopefully in the long-run people will understand what I’m about.” said Harrison.
However some boxing fans think that Sprott in not a good match for Harrison, especially the bookmakers, who have Audley Harrison as the 1/7 favourite.
“It annoys me when the papers say ’surely they can find a better opponent than Michael Sprott” said Jim Evans, Michael Sprott’s trainer.
Harrison’s career looked down when he lost to Williams and then Dominick Guinn of the USA in a short space of time. But he looked good in his fight with Williams. Hopefully Audley can put his celebrity side on hold for a while and concentrate on boxing.
“The showman side of things is a part of me, but the business of fighting is a serious one and I’m totally focused on Saturday night,” said Harrison. “Obviously the big picture is about winning a world title this year. Michael Sprott’s in my way and I’ve got to go through him.”
The winner of Sprott-Harrison is set to meet Commonwealth champion Matt Skelton in June before a possible world title tilt at a later stage.
Promoter Frank Warren said, “The objective is for the best heavyweight in the country to go on and challenge for the world title. There’s four belts there so there are four opportunities and we’ll see what’s available at the time. We’ve got a big crowd coming on Saturday and these guys have to deliver, it’s as simple as that. It’s not winning the fight that counts, it’s how they win the fight. You win fans over by performances. People pay a lot of money and they want excitement and I’m sure Audley doesn’t want to be involved in another fight like the first against Danny Williams.”
Sprott’s trainer, meanwhile, expressed his irritation at the treatment of his fighter in the British media.
“Michael has never been in as good nick as he is at the moment,” said Jim Evans.
Sprott, 32, is a former British champion, has lost twice to and beaten Williams once and also lost to Skelton.
He was also knocked out in one round by former WBO heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders in 2001.
What do you think the outcome of the Harrison Sprott fight will be?
Can Audley Harrison win a world title this year?
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I would put a bet on Harrison to win, but he is 1/7 so if I risked £70 I would only make £10 and it doesn’t seem worth it.
Comment by pest_1 — February 17, 2007 @ 8:29 pm
I agree, it isnt really worth it at 1/7, but I would definelty back Harrison is he ever gets a world title fight!
Comment by Bill T — February 17, 2007 @ 9:17 pm