BoxRec News' take on the Haye-Harrison 'fight'

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

I thought Audley would do it. Remdeem himself - with the amount of talking he was doing you would think he would have done more than he did, that he was going to invest his words into some kind of fighting spirit and battle it out, he must have known this was his last chance at the big times. In the end - I was fuming! I don't usually get angry at the conclusion of a fight but I was so fornicating annoyed that Audley won the battle of the mouth and when it came to the ring he folded like a deckchair - it must have been the worst heavyweight challenge from anybody in history - forget Jean Pierre Coopman - at least he went forward against Muhammad Ali and had a go, Frank Bruno? He had the balls to go in against a man who smashed him 7 years before - it went 3 rounds but he had a go. Brian London made more effort against Ali - I can't think of a more inept, more useless title challenge in my life. It's even worse than Honeygans attempt against Mark Breland or Oliver McCalls second fight against Lennox Lewis - but these guys had problems outside the ring - in the build up, it was proven there was nothing wrong with Audley's mental state and no problems.

Audley - if you are reading this. You are a bright guy and maybe you analyze things too much - hang them up mate. I have believed in you from 2000 but today it stops. I'll never mention the pudenda name ever again on this forum.

[orbtastic]

Does anyone else get as annoyed with Steve Bunce as me ?? I listened to the fight on Five Live and his loud , over the top rantings were just typical . His back tracking had to be heard to be believed when the fight ended . I was always told that empty barrels make the most noise - how true !! Oh by the way - I forgot - adhios!!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing after the fight (listened on radio on way home) from Bunce.

Did you hear the Hampton who rang in saying he was a writer for 'Ringsidereport.com - the biggest boxing site in the world' and then saying that the stoppage was premature? FFS on all counts.

I thought he said he was a ESB journalist? Either way, he was clearly trolling on the radio, kudos to him.

I'm paraphrasing him here but his three main points seem to be that Audley was landing blistering jabs (punch stats refute that resolutely), Haye hit him illegally on the back of the head (replays debunk that) and that the referee stopped the fight prematurely. I can only assume that if he's not on the wind-up that he watched it on a very poor stream or a very small TV.

[dondada]

I'm paraphrasing him here but his three main points seem to be that Audley was landing blistering jabs (punch stats refute that resolutely), Haye hit him illegally on the back of the head (replays debunk that) and that the referee stopped the fight prematurely. I can only assume that if he's not on the wind-up that he watched it on a very poor stream or a very small TV.

Yeah, that's the one. Unlike a troll, he actually seemed to believe the excrement he was shovelling. Incredible.

[bruthead]

Totally agree with Ian's article:

"After the fight Harrison's name was booed and a chant – "You're s*** and you know you are," was directed at the fallen Olympic gold medallist. Whilst I can empathise with the fans' disgust, it was totally misdirected.

Audley Harrison did not set out to deceive anyone. Harrison is a man susceptible to fantasy, who was given reason to believe he could become the heavyweight champion of the world. In the build-up Harrison frequently announced that "perception is not reality." These are not the words of a deceitful villain. They are the words of a delusional victim.

Truly, Harrison is a tragic figure. In two minutes of round number three his whole world imploded. For those of us who have long accepted that to embrace the sport of boxing is to embrace tragedy this was a night of truth, and it will linger like a haunting refrain.

In the dressing room after the fight Harrison had the look of a man whose soul had been stolen from his body. He sat. A deflated behemoth. The scales had fallen from his eyes and tears followed them.

To find the real villain of last night's piece, just follow the money. Estimates of Harrison's pay go from £250,000 to £1 million. All estimates put Haye's purse north of £5m."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/14112010/ ... shame.html

[Datsue]

Totally agree with Ian's article:

"After the fight Harrison's name was booed and a chant – "You're s*** and you know you are," was directed at the fallen Olympic gold medallist. Whilst I can empathise with the fans' disgust, it was totally misdirected.

Audley Harrison did not set out to deceive anyone. Harrison is a man susceptible to fantasy, who was given reason to believe he could become the heavyweight champion of the world. In the build-up Harrison frequently announced that "perception is not reality." These are not the words of a deceitful villain. They are the words of a delusional victim.

Truly, Harrison is a tragic figure. In two minutes of round number three his whole world imploded. For those of us who have long accepted that to embrace the sport of boxing is to embrace tragedy this was a night of truth, and it will linger like a haunting refrain.

In the dressing room after the fight Harrison had the look of a man whose soul had been stolen from his body. He sat. A deflated behemoth. The scales had fallen from his eyes and tears followed them.

To find the real villain of last night's piece, just follow the money. Estimates of Harrison's pay go from £250,000 to £1 million. All estimates put Haye's purse north of £5m."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/14112010/ ... shame.html

That article up at Eurosport's not Ian's, you can tell because it's a load of fuckin' drivel.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I'm with you MW - I mean, I knew Audley was bad but the sheer depth of his ineptitude surprised me. I expected him to do everything he could to survive for as long as possible and do very little in the meantime. Well, this happened, of course. But I was very surprised he didn't survive for longer. He couldn't even cover up properly.

Yes, that's what's so shocking. He couldn't even hold on, he just took there taking a shellacking after doing absolutely sweet FA. What an absolute farrago, the guy was about as poor as it's possible for a professional fighter to be. Short of knocking himself out before the first bell on the corner stool, he couldn't have really been any worse.

The only thing I will credit him for is for getting up. He must have some pride, because he surely must have known he was never going to survive the round.

This fight was a terrible mistmatch from day 1, a lot of us on here knew it, but hoped we were wrong.

[Jeff Thomas]

Thought that article was excellent Ian!

[dondada]

Thought that article was excellent Ian!

Thanks pal. I was going to give you a shout after Kenny's fight but given the circumstances I thought I'd stay out of the way.

[willardx]

Does anyone agree that the whole point of the fight was Haye proving to the Klitchcos how effective his hype machine is? i.e if he can drum up 50 million quid fighting Audley think of all the dosh that can be made for a proper fight- hence more leverage on the difficult contractual stuff that has made the fights fall down in the past......

[MightyWarrior]

Does anyone agree that the whole point of the fight was Haye proving to the Klitchcos how effective his hype machine is? i.e if he can drum up 50 million quid fighting Audley think of all the dosh that can be made for a proper fight- hence more leverage on the difficult contractual stuff that has made the fights fall down in the past......

It'll help, but the point of the fight was 6 mill for the easiest nights work you'll ever have.

Close, but not the worst ever - that goes to Bruce "The Atlantic City Express" Seldon v Tyson surely.

[Jeff Thomas]

Thought that article was excellent Ian!

Thanks pal. I was going to give you a shout after Kenny's fight but given the circumstances I thought I'd stay out of the way.

That's daft pal u should have done

[J]

dude boxing is a biznizz haye ***** the public but its not his fault, aud as an amatuer was wonderful he was class i screamed for him, we loved him.
as a pro since the williams fight that i was at he is fackin disgrace, he was disgrace last night, scared timid, and not a pro boxer.....he has been that way for 5 years...more fool anyone who bought it would be a different way. fact is he has no bollox for the pro game.


sorry to disagree and call it as i see it my dear friend.

[Jeff Thomas]

Does anyone agree that the whole point of the fight was Haye proving to the Klitchcos how effective his hype machine is? i.e if he can drum up 50 million quid fighting Audley think of all the dosh that can be made for a proper fight- hence more leverage on the difficult contractual stuff that has made the fights fall down in the past......

It'll help, but the point of the fight was 6 mill for the easiest nights work you'll ever have.

Close, but not the worst ever - that goes to Bruce "The Atlantic City Express" Seldon v Tyson surely.

Hmm...not sure. Seldon was marginally more spirited, perhaps. You have also got to factor in that whilst not in their best contests you had both Tito and Terry Norris on the undercard. What is more, it is the night Tupac got shot. The last time he was caught on camera (other than CCTV) he was embracing Tyson. As far as I know, no hip-hop superstars got gunned down last night.

Dizzy Rascal was there last night, fortunately he wasn't gunned down. He did however come across as a complete pudendum. 5 ft 1ins of pure gangster,

[Glyn Leach]

It was a crap fight and we all have right to feel disappointed, but we weren't the ones conned, the man in the street was. Our 20-20 hindsight is absolutely worthless though, it never reflects well on those who claim it as some form of self-justification of a stance after an event. It wasn't rocket science for anyone to have picked Haye (a massive betting favourite) to win this fight. Big deal. No prizes.

Each of us had an idea what was likely to happen in this fight, yet we could still hope to be surprised. That, I think, is what's so appealing about this sport. There is always that chance, even in the unlikeliest circumstances. No matter what the fight, you can never be completely certain of the outcome beforehand. Sometimes what you think will happen does happen. Sometimes it doesn't. That's why you watch.

But if anyone really believed they knew, 100%, what was going to happen beforehand, why would they bother buying the fight, irrespective of this apparently irresistible hype of which people are now speaking? The hype was to trap the man in the street, not the knowledgeable boxing fan. If anyone bought into the hype when they knew better, did so against their own better judgement, more fool them, really.

Hype? From the perspective of BM, we would obviously write a lot about this fight beforehand, which was a rare major event in British boxing. Whether it should have been becomes by the by. Once a fight has been announced, we go into analysis mode. People like to read about the major events they will watch, therefore you give them what they want — interviews with the principals, previews, polls, whatever. BN did similar. Is that hype?

BM certainly do not expect to sway our relatively small readership either way as to whether or not they should buy a PPV. The assumption is that if someone can be bothered to buy a specialist boxing publication, they are committed enough to buy a PPV whatever. We believe we are preaching to the converted, so to speak. I'm a boxing fan as much as a journalist, and I watch whatever boxing is available to me, irrespective of what I think of the fight beforehand. It's what boxing fans do, isn't it?

[orbtastic]

Would you not agree that some paid to see essentially a public execution at the very highest level?

[Glyn Leach]

Which is what David sold it as so yes, definitely. Some will have believed him and they have been proven right to do so. There's a lot of feeling against Audley, always has been — and that's from the casual AND committed fans, trade too.

[orbtastic]

I think BM and BN to a lesser extent didn't go overboard on puff pieces and "hype". They just delivered the facts and opinions. I like the BM previews of the big fights - You get people to pick and I think from memory, only two fools went with Audley and the "puncher's chance" nonsense.

SKY were going overboard, but then they would, they were selling PPVs - I've no issue with that either.

There were some very confused fans at the MEN after the fight, was quite funny to see.

[whiskey]

The only one to emerge with shred of self esteem is Barry McGuigan who did his level best not to come out at rubber Johnny and just declare "Fraudley Embarrison has no feckin chance ! "

Johnny even started getting all sweaty about the fact he wouldn't give him a chance in it.

Was Mike Tyson there too ringside ? or had he flown home ? god that was embarrison to be banged out after 1 x jab in 9 minutes.

Thank goodness for Pacquiao vs Margarito and then later this month, Froch vs Abraham.

PS- that's another heavyweight dud fight for Haye. Can't say i've rewatched any of them to date.

[Glyn Leach]

Think it's all about the money Orb. Sky stood to make a fortune from selling the event, so that's what they did. Be hard not to, if you had the opportunity. Mags like BM and BN might pick up a few extra readers for issues around a big fight, but it's a very negligible amount compared to the 700,000 who might have bought this PPV. In all honesty, given that Haye has never been a seller when I've put him on the cover (only Manny and Floyd are these days), I'd be happy if BM got an extra 700 sales out of this fight — and I'm not confident we'd even get that in the current climate. The trickle down factor, even from a massive fight, is so minimal. But I'd rather be honest and poor (easier to say when you've got no option!). Bods like Ian and myself will never earn Adam Smith money out of this, but at least we can afford the luxury of an honest emotional outburst every now and again.

[orbtastic]

Oh for sure, it was all about the money for SKY, Haye and Audley. It did nothing else for any of them apart from generate some interest and maybe force the K word issue ever so slightly now.

[Jeff Thomas]

What have Micheal Jackson and Audley Harrison got in common?



























They both wore gloves for no apparent reason.





(sorry Harrison fans- i'm one too but that was pretty good).

[Bard of Boxrec]

I can't believe how stupid all these outraged people posted on the forum are for being so shocked and appalled.

I would expect it from ignorant casual sportsfans, who get sucked in, pay £15, don't really know what they want out of the experience, and are usually unhappy regardless of what transpires, but if actual boxing fans didn't see this coming and feel the need to vent about wasting their money more fool them.

Those who are blaming the ones who 'shelled out' are missing the point too, sadly. This country's attitude towards boxing in general directly results in the necessity of an 'angle' for every fight. So here is the 'All British showdown'. These types of fights here and there are needed to actually keep the sport in the media. Otherwise Haye defends against a Sultan Ibragimov type and noone watches. Hell, noone even watched the Ruiz fight, and that was fresh off the 'David vs Goliath' title winning effort!

A separate argument is how do people feel that boxing has been reduced to this state of affairs. Well, I feel sad. But it's nothing new.

On balance the fight probably did more good than harm. Casual fans feel cheated, but they can't blame Haye, so he now has some more exposure to get people watching the Klitschko fights, not to mention more negotiating power to get a fair share of the purse. And banks a cool 5 million from this fight or whatever he earned.

Do people not think journalists are obliged to create some interest in the fight? What's wrong with them taking the line, as many did, 'Haye should win with ease but Audley might just throw a spanner in the works'?

Also, there were many writers who slagged off the promotion but conceded that this is what boxing has to do sometimes to make money. The 'sad state of affairs' angle has been spewed every time a fight like this happens. It is extremely hackneyed but always goes down well with the jaded (ie, almost everyone). Then everyone buys the fight anyway.

If Haye had been fighting a 'better opponent' (Ibragimov, Chagaev, etc) what should have been the journalists' line? Could they have drummed up any interest in the fight, bearing in mind there wasn't mass interest in Haye/Ruiz, despite the fight coming off the back of the 'David and Goliath' showdown?

[dondada]

I'd be happy if BM got an extra 700 sales out of this fight — and I'm not confident we'd even get that in the current climate.

Obviously there's no real comparison because we don't have a cover price (and we're relatively new so therefore growing anyway) but the weekend was the best two days BoxRec News has had so far, stats wise.

The power of Big Aud!

[Glyn Leach]

I'd be happy if BM got an extra 700 sales out of this fight — and I'm not confident we'd even get that in the current climate.

Obviously there's no real comparison because we don't have a cover price (and we're relatively new so therefore growing anyway) but the weekend was the best two days BoxRec News has had so far, stats wise.

The power of Big Aud!

Thanks Ian. Yes I can!

[earsjohn]

I can't believe how stupid all these outraged people posted on the forum are for being so shocked and appalled.

I would expect it from ignorant casual sportsfans, who get sucked in, pay £15, don't really know what they want out of the experience, and are usually unhappy regardless of what transpires, but if actual boxing fans didn't see this coming and feel the need to vent about wasting their money more fool them.

Those who are blaming the ones who 'shelled out' are missing the point too, sadly. This country's attitude towards boxing in general directly results in the necessity of an 'angle' for every fight. So here is the 'All British showdown'. These types of fights here and there are needed to actually keep the sport in the media. Otherwise Haye defends against a Sultan Ibragimov type and noone watches. Hell, noone even watched the Ruiz fight, and that was fresh off the 'David vs Goliath' title winning effort!

A separate argument is how do people feel that boxing has been reduced to this state of affairs. Well, I feel sad. But it's nothing new.

On balance the fight probably did more good than harm. Casual fans feel cheated, but they can't blame Haye, so he now has some more exposure to get people watching the Klitschko fights, not to mention more negotiating power to get a fair share of the purse. And banks a cool 5 million from this fight or whatever he earned.

Do people not think journalists are obliged to create some interest in the fight? What's wrong with them taking the line, as many did, 'Haye should win with ease but Audley might just throw a spanner in the works'?

Also, there were many writers who slagged off the promotion but conceded that this is what boxing has to do sometimes to make money. The 'sad state of affairs' angle has been spewed every time a fight like this happens. It is extremely hackneyed but always goes down well with the jaded (ie, almost everyone). Then everyone buys the fight anyway.

If Haye had been fighting a 'better opponent' (Ibragimov, Chagaev, etc) what should have been the journalists' line? Could they have drummed up any interest in the fight, bearing in mind there wasn't mass interest in Haye/Ruiz, despite the fight coming off the back of the 'David and Goliath' showdown?

I agree with pretty much everything here. Spot on.

I'm not so sure that this was such a tragedy for boxing. There's been a lot worse things have happened in and out of the ring over the last few years. Yes, Audley was a shambles; Yes, Sky built the hype and made people believe that Audley had at least a punchers chance; Yes David was a little tactless in his post fight betting boasts (when has David ever been tactful?). But was this really worse than, say, Margarito loading his gloves? The supposed P4P No 1 fighting once in 2 years and then beating up his missus? Joe Calzaghe getting stiffed of the biggest pay day in his career by the greatest promoter in the UK? Carl Froch having his 5th world class, title fight in a row in the boxing hotbed that is Finland? And said fight being shown on an obscure ppv channel known only to boxing geeks? Evander Holyfield being licensed to fight on? Roy Jones wanting to fight on?

Boxing will always do things that will rile the fan, but I can guarantee that if Haye v Wlad is signed for sometime in June (there's a big stadium in NW London standing empty round that time), fans (genuine and casual alike) will make it the biggest fight in british boxing history and people will recall the Harrison fight as a minor stepping stone towards creating an event not seen in this country since Lewis v Bruno.