Defending Audley

[Syntax Error]

I've wavered on this. At points I've thought it was a freeze but on balance I agree with Macho, Audley just wasn't equipped for the job. He had a plan, and a decent one, but he wasn't the man to make it work. Certainly, while watching the fight, from the opening bell I was thinking "he wants to take it long, this lack of action suits him". But then when the action started, he couldn't cope. Maybe he was lulled into a false sense of security by Haye's doing sod all for two rounds TOO, which people are tending to ignore. But whatever, when the pace was raised, Audley wasn't at the races.

I'm very confused about Audley's tactics for that 'fight'.

Audley's stamina has always been suspect IMHO, yet he planned to try & take the fight long?

Also, bear in mind that he went round telling everybody that his Left hand was somehow equivalent to Lennox Lewis' Right hand, Razor Ruddock's Left hook cum uppercut or any punch from Earnie Shavers, so why did he did not try & plant it on Haye in the early rounds to try & get David out of there before his own stamina began to deplete?

[whiskey]

£ 187,000 a minute Audley made.

I wonder what Jason Booth & Rendall Munroe got for their title challenges ?

True warriors, with genuine spirit and were prepared to give it their all.

[Terminator666]

Considering most of us were not suprised how the fight panned out then we did not have to buy the fight on tv or even attend in Manchester. It's not even a case of "hindsight" then really is it?

[Syntax Error]

Didn't agree with the article, but the writer did as good a job as anyone is going to in defending Harrison.

Oliverfennel, The term "unforgiveable" is being used in two completely different contexts for Harrison and Margarito.

Dead right; they're 2 completely different scenarios.

Oliver Fennell is presupposing that everyone who is criticising Harrison is somehow praising Margarito.

From my personal standpoint, I have been ultra critical of Harrison for many years now & I was also critical of Margarito & have gone on record as saying that he should have been banned for life from the sport & I still maintain that.

[dondada]

You can try and justify Harrison's self-hype and bombast however you like. Was he full of sh1t? Yes.

[Wales]

When the sands of time elapse last Saturdays performance will be "people" remember Audley Harrison for. A gutless non-event sold to the masses by the marketing power of Sky and the big Yes I can campaign. I for one called Harrison a fighter who "has just proved himself at domestic level", yet even I paid the £15 thinking as one last hurrah, on the biggest night of his life, Harrison would, well, throw a punch (which I suppose he did, literally). One punch landed in 8mins of boxing, 8 mins of gareth gates-esq stuttering of punches by a wide eyed frightened man.

And as for the Margarito (cheat) , Tyson (rapist), Mosley (steroids) comparisons, a feeble attempt at justifying Saturdays debacle. Fu** sakes man, have a go at least.

"Audley Harrison is coming for tea so prepare a feast, a buffet style feast, with platters of food strewn accross the table because Audley is dining tonight, Audley is planning on dining for 48 mins but if Audley decides to sweep all this food up with one swipe of the left hand and eat it all early, Audley will." come buffet time audley stutters over what to eat, picks up a tiny egg sandwich bites the corner off, puts it back then leaves after 8 mins. Terrible effort.

[Wrists]

Clearly he was 'full of shit' as he did nothing in reality opposed to what he said he would do. Article was me trying to get an understanding of why and also a piece to try and balance some of what I think has been 'bile' since the fight.

I accept though it is a very hard task to try and defend how he fought - I don't think its possible to do so.

The image of a the broken man I saw being interviewed by ed robinson made me feel sad, regardless of the fact that he was well paid. I bet you he would rather have been paid buttons and still have his self respect in tact than have banked a million quid and be a failure

[dondada]

Clearly he was 'full of shit' as he did nothing in reality opposed to what he said he would do. Article was me trying to get an understanding of why and also a piece to try and balance some of what I think has been 'bile' since the fight.

I accept though it is a very hard task to try and defend how he fought - I don't think its possible to do so.

The image of a the broken man I saw being interviewed by ed robinson made me feel sad, regardless of the fact that he was well paid. I bet you he would rather have been paid buttons and still have his self respect in tact than have banked a million quid and be a failure

I'm not critical of it as a piece at all, though I disagree with much of the content. It's all about opinions and I think it's great that you've taken the road less travelled on this. Very commendable.

[Glyn Leach]

I've wavered on this. At points I've thought it was a freeze but on balance I agree with Macho, Audley just wasn't equipped for the job. He had a plan, and a decent one, but he wasn't the man to make it work. Certainly, while watching the fight, from the opening bell I was thinking "he wants to take it long, this lack of action suits him". But then when the action started, he couldn't cope. Maybe he was lulled into a false sense of security by Haye's doing sod all for two rounds TOO, which people are tending to ignore. But whatever, when the pace was raised, Audley wasn't at the races.

I'm very confused about Audley's tactics for that 'fight'.

Audley's stamina has always been suspect IMHO, yet he planned to try & take the fight long?

Also, bear in mind that he went round telling everybody that his Left hand was somehow equivalent to Lennox Lewis' Right hand, Razor Ruddock's Left hook cum uppercut or any punch from Earnie Shavers, so why did he did not try & plant it on Haye in the early rounds to try & get David out of there before his own stamina began to deplete?

Maybe he thinks he's the second coming of Julio Cesar Chavez after the Sprott fight Syntax, I don't know. Was just the feeling I got when watching. But Harrison has had more longer fights than Haye, who he will have known hadn't trained for stamina but for explosive power (good call, as it goes!). I think he will have had every right to back his own stamina against Haye's. That seemed to be the gist of what he was saying afterwards, that he thought he could outlast Haye and come on late.

[Twinkle Toes]

I concur. It's clear that as an amateur, where he could dominate with his reach and being much older and bigger than his competition suited him. There was little danger of taking a big shot, and he could win without ever actually being in a fight.

Well, one could construde that Harrison is a bully using this line of thought, and we all know what happens to bullys when they meet their match

[reggaereggae]

I feel for Audley, being humiliated like this and on other occasions....however he dug his own grave through his own bluster and arrogance.

That came back to bite him on the arse heavily.

For a man of his 'talent' as a professional, one should count Audley as one of the luckiest fighters ever. HE must've made £5 million.... his talent/chin etc deserved £200,000

[oliverfennell]

Didn't agree with the article, but the writer did as good a job as anyone is going to in defending Harrison.

Oliverfennel, The term "unforgiveable" is being used in two completely different contexts for Harrison and Margarito.

Context does not change a word's meaning.

The way some people are talking, Harrison has committed one of the biggest offences against the sport. I'm not saying he didn't do anything wrong, but can't you see the contrast between one boxer being welcomed back to the sport despite attempting to pull off one of the most heinous offences imaginable, and another being told to leave the country because, at the very worst, he didn't give value for money?

[oliverfennell]

I love this site, you get some really informed and insightful conversations on here, like this one. Thanks fellas.

Giz a job?

[oliverfennell]

Didn't agree with the article, but the writer did as good a job as anyone is going to in defending Harrison.

Oliverfennel, The term "unforgiveable" is being used in two completely different contexts for Harrison and Margarito.

Dead right; they're 2 completely different scenarios.

Oliver Fennell is presupposing that everyone who is criticising Harrison is somehow praising Margarito.

From my personal standpoint, I have been ultra critical of Harrison for many years now & I was also critical of Margarito & have gone on record as saying that he should have been banned for life from the sport & I still maintain that.

Of course I'm not saying "everyone" is doing that, and I appreciate they are different scenarios. I also know there are a great many people who were very upset with Margarito, and with him getting a title shot.

However this is a sport in which the extremes of bad/criminal behaviour are often tolerated - so long as the viewer gets "value for money" in a fight.

Again, I know a lot of people are anti-Margarito, but you can bet there's been a lot more said to criticise Harrison than him, and his offence was immeasurably worse. And I made the comparison because they both fought on the same night.

[oliverfennell]

And as for the Margarito (cheat) , Tyson (rapist), Mosley (steroids) comparisons, a feeble attempt at justifying Saturdays debacle. Fu** sakes man, have a go at least.

And therein lies the proof of my point exactly. We can forgive criminals and cheats of the worst kind in the sport, so long as they "have a go".

Obviously those guys have tried harder in their big fights, but my point is that Harrison is copping more flak than them for what is, on a human/legal/cultural/societal level, an offence that pales into insignificance compared to what those guys did.

[History]

Audley's not killed anyone, and with his one-jab performance, he's not even actually hurt anyone.

You could argue that he's hurt the wallets of all those who shelled out for a live or PPV ticket and ended up seeing a damp squib, but then no-one forced them, and the result was hardly unexpected. Even as a boxing fan whose knowledge probably isn't the best, I couldn't see the fight going past 3 rounds.

The fact Audley talked up his chances is par for the course, and he was always going to say that he believed he would produce the performance of his life and win. He had to say that, both to bolster his own confidence and to sell the fight. I'd have been more worried if he'd gone into the bout saying 'I've not really got a chance, i'll probably get blasted out of there, but i'm going to have a go anyway'. Because that would've suggested he was mentally beaten before he even stepped in the ring. Again, no-one was forced to buy into Audley's claims.

You can be philosophical, and say that ultimately, it was simply a case of a superior boxer easily beating an inferior boxer, as has happened a million times in the sport over the last 100 or so years, even in title fights, and as will happen a million times more.

I'd wish him all the best in his future life, because he seems like a decent guy who overcame the odds to actually do quite well for himself.

[Des1]

Regardless of what is being stated by everybody with access to a keyboard, Audley did not freeze; he is not a coward; and he did not underperform. He was, quite simply, well and truly out of his depth. The matchmakers are the people who should be vilified, not Harrison.

In his previous outing, Harrison was getting outclassed by an ageing journeyman until he slung the perfect example of a 'lucky punch'. Prior to that he was slugging it out against novices and never weres in a low-rent three round tournament. Even before that, he has never shown anything like the class or ability required to win the world heavyweight title. Those who have argued to the contrary are clueless/delusional - this probably applies to the man himself too. Of course he's going to get steam-rollered by a top-class, prime heavyweight world champion; of course he's going to be made to look inept. When Nadal or Federer demolish low-ranked opposition in straight-sets and barely concede a point, it is not because the low-ranked player froze, it's because they are comparatively weak.

As to Audley's bombast and the fact he took the fight in the first place. Who in their right mind would turn down a crack at the world heavyweight title and a million quid plus? On accepting the fight, is he then going to look into the lens of the camera and say "you know what, Haye is leagues ahead of me, I'm going to get pummelled"? No. He will do his best to convince himself and everybody else he has the tools to get the job done. He has been trying to convince us all (and himself) that he has what it takes even before he won his gold medal.

When I say freeze Im not saying he would have beat Harrison if he hadn't, Im saying that he would have at least put up some sort of fight, would have at least thrown more punches. I could have put up more of a fight and thrown more punches and not froze but thats not saying I have the ability to beat him, I still would get smashed but people aren't complaining or feel let down that Harrison lost, its the fact that he did nothing and didn't even try. If he did, yes he still would have lost but its the manner he lost which people are pissed off about, and the manner he lost though indicates that he froze

I know what you mean, Des, but with the greatest respect, you wouldn't have put up more of a fight than Audley and if you'd have tried to, it would've been lights out much faster than it was. When you are in the ring with a guy who is superior in every department, there's not really a lot you can do that won't leave you wide open to a devastating counter. That's where Audley found himself on Saturday. Just as if Stevange Borough drew Chelsea in the FA Cup and looked totally lost and incapable of doing anything. It's because they know as soon as they try and launch and offensive they will be punished because they are less talented & physiologically and psychologically inferior. That's sport.

Yes do see where your coming from

[Syntax Error]

I can't understand how people can say that Audley did not freeze.

Of course he froze: he froze, just like he always does when he's out of his depth.