By Ian S. Palmer
Liverpool England will be the site of the heavyweight showdown between British Champion David Price and challenger Audley Harrison on Oct 13th. There’s a very good chance that this is the last time we’ll see Harrison in the ring…at least as a boxer, since he said he’ll hang up the gloves of he can’t take the title from Price.
Also, Harrison will be trying to repair his tarnished reputation following his debacle against former Heavyweight Champion David Haye when the two met in November of 2010. That fight was hyped all over Europe as a ‘fight of the century’ candidate and it turned out to be one of the worst bouts in the history of boxing.
Harrison threw a grand total of three punches in that fight and he was blasted out of the ring by Haye in the third round. The British Board of Boxing didn’t take too kindly to his performance and Harrison’s pay cheque was held until an investigation was completed. The boxing board finally agreed to release his earnings, but the public never forgot the farce. The fight was so pathetic that Sky Sports, Britain’s leading sports network, decided against showing any more pay-per view-bouts
This means Harrison has at least one more chance to save face and show that he’s better than that. He started his career off quite well as he captured a gold medal as the Sydney Olympics back in 2000 in the tournament’s super heavyweight division. However, that was basically the hight point of his boxing career. He turned pro the following year in 2001 and has compiled a 28-5 record since then with 21 knockouts, but hasn’t really ever taken on a true heavyweight contender over the years other than Haye.
Photo: PA
Age definitely isn’t on Harrison’s side as he’s now 40 years old and he’s going to be taking on a 29-year-old hungry fighter in Price. However, Price has to be aware that Harrison’s got pretty good power in his fists when he’s motivated and he could come out swinging to prove that his performance against Haye was nothing more than a bad night at the office. In fact, Price said he expects Harrison to come out swinging since he’s basically got nothing to lose in the eyes of the boxing public.
As well as the age advantage, Price also has a lot of power of his own as evidenced by his undefeated 13-0 record qwith 11 knockoputs. In addition, Price stands a huge 6-foot-8 while Harrison is 6-5 ½. The only advantage Harrison has really is four inches in reach and his experience. Harrison’s five losses came against Haye, Danny Williams, Dominick Guinn, and Martin Rogan. He was also knocjed out back in 2007 Michael Sprott. However, he stopped Sprott in a rematch three years later and captured the European championship. His last bout was in May when he stopped Ali Adams in the fourth tround. That win should have an asterisk next to it though since Adams failed a post-fight drug test and has been banned form boxing for two years.
Price turned pro back in 2009. He’s also faced mainly European opponents over the years without ever meeting a world-class fighter. He scored a first-round KO over John McDermott in January to claim the vacant Brirtish championship and then stopped Sam Sexton in the fourth round three months later and added the vacant Commonwealth belt to his resume.
Prediction
Both boxers have the power to stop each other, but the outcome of this vbout depends on which Harrison shows up. If it’s the gold-medal winner of 2000 then he’s got a chance. However, if it’s the same guy who entered the ring against Hayes in 2010 he’ll be stopped before the final bell.
