Just when you thought it was safe to go near a boxing ring again, Audley Harrison is back.
The man who calls himself A-Force will attempt to prove he is not a spent force when he returns to the ring.
Harrison will climb back into a ring on Saturday for the first time since his humiliating defeat to David Haye in November 2010, whom himself brought fresh shame to boxing with his public brawl with Derek Chisora.
Harrison, 40, was slaughtered for his limp display against Haye when he landed just one punch before the contest was stopped in the third round.
He was accused of not trying and the British Boxing Board of Control withheld part of his purse while they conducted a probe before releasing it two months later.
The 2000 Olympic gold medallist warned then he would be back and he will carry out his threat when he faces Ali Adams at the Brentwood Centre.
Any other fighter would have quit in embarrassment, but Harrison feels sufficiently rehabilitated following his participation in Strictly Come Dancing last year to show his face again in a ring.
The Londoner is still a mixture of delusion and bravado and be believes he can get in the reckoning with top prospects David Price and Tyson Fury.
“I know it’s dangerous to look past an opponent, especially when they are hungry and motivated like Ali Adams,” said the former European champ.
“But let’s be honest, I’m in a different league. Taking charge of my training camp again, allowed me to reignite the passion, hunger and desire needed to succeed and I’m back to loving my boxing.
“After I give Ali Adams a lesson in the sweet science, I’m looking for a challenge with one of the upcoming heavyweights. I’m throwing my name into the hat with David Price, Tyson Fury, Jonathan Banks or Seth Mitchell.”
As crazy as it sounds, Price’s promoter Frank Maloney says Harrison could earn a crack at his newly-crowned British and Commonwealth champ if he beats Adams.
Price, who was so good in beating Sam Sexton on Saturday, lacks domestic opponents because Fury is avoiding him and Haye and Dereck Chisora are involved in the sham at West Ham.
Maloney feels the Sydney gold medallist against the Beijing bronze medallist in this Olympic year could be good box office.
“We’ll have a look at where we go next with David,” said Maloney. “We’ll look at Audley Harrison and he’s fighting on Saturday.
“An Olympic gold medallist in Audley against an Olympic bronze medallist in David would be interesting.”
Harrison would jump at the chance to fight Price and he believes his story could yet have a happy ending, despite how hugely disappointing his professional career has been.
“The Haye fight hasn’t helped my legacy, but I can live with that,” said the southpaw, who is based in the US.
“In 2011, I found a way to create some goodwill with my appearance on Strictly Come Dancing and I made my body heal.
“Now there are no excuses. I’m ready to put in, not one, but a succession of Olympic-type performances to finish my career on a high and go out as a British bad boy, done good, who turned his life around and did himself, his family and his country proud.”
We’ll see, but something tells me he will fail - again.
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I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. -- Professor Bernardo de la Paz,
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gunner99, on 06 January 2012 - 06:06 PM, said:
