Return of A-Force

[ILikeBeer]

Wasn't the rumour that Audley was fighting for the vacant British title?

[danconnollyeire]

Audley is now absolutely, utterly ancient. 43 this year. Whether you like him, hate him or whatever, the bottom line is the days when he could perform in the ring have gone for good. He continues to delude himself but why the hell would anyone with a rational mind part with money to hire him as a professional boxer ? The only conceivable reason would be to hire him as cannon fodder but even that option is tarnished due to him being blitzed in the first round by Price and Wilder. If you hire him to face your prospect and he lasts a few rounds, your prospect won't have improved on what Price and Wilder did, so what is the point ?

I see why Goodwin hired him to face Ali Adams, it was a calculated gamble which didn't pay off, but I see the sense in attempting it. For the life of me, I can't see how anyone would do it in 2014, after his humiliations vs Price and Wilder.

You're spot on. If Chisora or Fury couldn't blitz him in a round or two it would be completely embarrassing

[Tuan_Jim]

I don't know if Audley Harrison's name is totally without value now. Price and Wilder had arrived at a certain level. There's still young 10-0 types who could learn a great deal from hustling Harrison for a 10 rd decision. Whether the money or opponent position would appeal to Harriso,n I don't know. I do believe Joshua is young enough, confident enough, and aggressive and powerful enough to waste him in 1, and personally I would find that depressing to watch.

If I were Audley and I desperately wanted to fight again, I would put myself on some bills out in Cali where he lives. Do it properly, work myself back up. Fight regularly, stay in the gym, have 8 or 10 fights before stepping in with a winning fighter. Turn up match-fit for once.

What he is attempting to do now is what faded name fighters always, always do, which is try to take the quickest shortcut and jump into right into a big fight, and it always, always goes horribly wrong. Why can they never learn?

[JimJim2009]

I don't know if Audley Harrison's name is totally without value now. Price and Wilder had arrived at a certain level. There's still young 10-0 types who could learn a great deal from hustling Harrison for a 10 rd decision. Whether the money or opponent position would appeal to Harriso,n I don't know. I do believe Joshua is young enough, confident enough, and aggressive and powerful enough to waste him in 1, and personally I would find that depressing to watch.

If I were Audley and I desperately wanted to fight again, I would put myself on some bills out in Cali where he lives. Do it properly, work myself back up. Fight regularly, stay in the gym, have 8 or 10 fights before stepping in with a winning fighter. Turn up match-fit for once.

What he is attempting to do now is what faded name fighters always, always do, which is try to take the quickest shortcut and jump into right into a big fight, and it always, always goes horribly wrong. Why can they never learn?

There's value to his name in general terms - just as there was for Joe Bugner when he was decades past his prime. He still looks in great shape, hasn't got fat, and can help enormously to hype up a show.

As an athlete, a boxer, he is totally finished though. He just can't do it in the ring. The only possible outcome of him facing anyone half decent is that he would be knocked out.

The time for a George Foreman style long-term comeback was several years ago. He's not even in the twilight of his career, as he was when he fought Haye and had some people wondering "he flattened Sprott, and we know Haye can't take a big punch... ". He is years past his twilight.

Those around him need to be frank with him. As do his dwindling fans, who suck up to him appallingly.

Audley's for fxxks sake, it's over !

[ILikeBeer]

There's value to his name in general terms - just as there was for Joe Bugner when he was decades past his prime. He still looks in great shape, hasn't got fat, and can help enormously to hype up a show.

As an athlete, a boxer, he is totally finished though. He just can't do it in the ring. The only possible outcome of him facing anyone half decent is that he would be knocked out.

The time for a George Foreman style long-term comeback was several years ago. He's not even in the twilight of his career, as he was when he fought Haye and had some people wondering "he flattened Sprott, and we know Haye can't take a big punch... ". He is years past his twilight.

Those around him need to be frank with him. As do his dwindling fans, who suck up to him appallingly.

Audley's for fxxks sake, it's over !

When Audley first came on the scene, I wanted him to do well. He was a Gold medalist, and had a contract with the BBC. I actually watched all of his fights on BBC, and posted on his forum. (As some guys on here will remember.)

However, it's been proven now that he can't make it at world level and even seems to struggle at British level. There really isn't much point to him continuing. At 43 years, he's English level at best.

He's had his shot, and he couldn't make it. No point him coming back again, sadly.

[Tuan_Jim]

I think it could have been so different. Clearly, Audley lacked self-confidence. However, I think that could have been dealt with by fighting regularly against a range of tough journeymen opponents of various shapes, sizes, and styles. He could have been toughened up over time. He could have arrived, finally, at his Danny Williams fight in 2005 knowing how to fight. Instead he was inexperienced, clueless, too unsure of himself.

When he turned pro so many of us thought he would be battling Mark Potter, Pele Reid, Jacklord Jacobs, moving onto US journeymen like Marion Wilson and Ross Puritty. Instead he squandered all those valuable learning years biffing around the most obscure, utterly inept clubfighter patsies from the US and eastern Europe and alienated everybody while learning nothing at all.

It's hardly surprising Sprott whacked him. He was fighting twice a year at best and had barely been hit on the chops in six years as a pro. Could have all been so very different.

[JimJim2009]

I think it could have been so different. Clearly, Audley lacked self-confidence. However, I think that could have been dealt with by fighting regularly against a range of tough journeymen opponents of various shapes, sizes, and styles. He could have been toughened up over time. He could have arrived, finally, at his Danny Williams fight in 2005 knowing how to fight. Instead he was inexperienced, clueless, too unsure of himself.

When he turned pro so many of us thought he would be battling Mark Potter, Pele Reid, Jacklord Jacobs, moving onto US journeymen like Marion Wilson and Ross Puritty. Instead he squandered all those valuable learning years biffing around the most obscure, utterly inept clubfighter patsies from the US and eastern Europe and alienated everybody while learning nothing at all.

It's hardly surprising Sprott whacked him. He was fighting twice a year at best and had barely been hit on the chops in six years as a pro. Could have all been so very different.

Agreed. The only way his career is validated (to me, anyway) is if he's salted away his money and is set up for the rest of his life, and I genuinely hope this is the case. If he got as far as he did on his own, he could have gone a lot further with a powerful promoter behind him. However, how much of the money would he have got if he had a manager and promoter to pay big percentages to ?

I hope he's loaded and can move on in life.

[Bodyshot3]

@Tuan_Jim.....good post. I went to Harrison's debut fight courtesy a friend who was working in corporate hospitality and we had good seats, just behind Robin Reid's family and friends. I was really pumped to be at Audley's pro debut and thought to myself that I could look back on the fact that I had been there at the beginning; there was a great vibe that night and Audley had the whole place on his side and some massive momentum and goodwill behind him.

But the fight itself was an absolute and abysmal farce; Middleton was in truly appalling shape, he literally looked out of puff getting to the ring, and Audley dispatched him without really needing to throw a half-decent punch. I can clearly remember my friend, not actually a big boxing fan, turning round to me and saying that it was a joke and that it was not a fight.

Middleton was hired to lose, we can all accept that and know the score, but I knew enough about boxing to realise that a lot of people felt robbed from the outset and that Audley gained nothing, literally zilch, from that fight. It was a terrible, even slightly cynical, start to his career and allegedly's sideswipes at the time that Audley was making all the wrong choices do have a certain ring of truth to them.

[Tuan_Jim]

Very good story and totally right, cynical is the word. I remember being astonished by the choice of opponent, because even I (as a stupidly hardcore heavyweight fan, fluent in all manner of bums and tomato cans in those days) had never heard of him. Boxing Monthly admitted that they, and no one they knew, had ever heard of him. Where on earth did they find such an opponent? And why did they need someone that soft? Middleton looked like a drunk dragged straight from the pub, brought in to fight this giant athletic fighting man. It was not good for boxing in any way.

I remember next time Audley showed up with a fat belly, big afro, prodding and posing and looking out of breath against a low level British journeyman. It was an obnoxious display and the fans turned on him that night, permanently.

Looking back it was clear even then Audley's attitude was all wrong, and his opponents were never going to teach him how to fight. I watched him versus Wilder in disbelief. Walking to his left, into Wilder's nuclear right, trapping himself against the ropes. It was like he was a novice with no ring IQ whatsoever.

[Monte Fisto]

Oh no he can't.

Keith i thought you would have had money on a-force to bring the house down??

[ILikeBeer]

@Tuan_Jim.....good post. I went to Harrison's debut fight courtesy a friend who was working in corporate hospitality and we had good seats, just behind Robin Reid's family and friends. I was really pumped to be at Audley's pro debut and thought to myself that I could look back on the fact that I had been there at the beginning; there was a great vibe that night and Audley had the whole place on his side and some massive momentum and goodwill behind him.

But the fight itself was an absolute and abysmal farce; Middleton was in truly appalling shape, he literally looked out of puff getting to the ring, and Audley dispatched him without really needing to throw a half-decent punch. I can clearly remember my friend, not actually a big boxing fan, turning round to me and saying that it was a joke and that it was not a fight.

Middleton was hired to lose, we can all accept that and know the score, but I knew enough about boxing to realise that a lot of people felt robbed from the outset and that Audley gained nothing, literally zilch, from that fight. It was a terrible, even slightly cynical, start to his career and allegedly's sideswipes at the time that Audley was making all the wrong choices do have a certain ring of truth to them.

I remember watching that fight at university. I had my little portable telly in the living room over the halls of residence. I reserved the lounge, and even on that tiny little telly I could feel the atmosphere of Wembley that night. I remember getting a text off my friend after the fight; "Audley didn't look that great, to be fair." As you say, somebody else who knew bugger all about boxing.

In my infinite wisdom, I gave Audley the benefit of the doubt, and was convinced he'd improve. Turns out other than a couple of Prizefighter wins, and a fluke win in a European title shot he didn't deserve, he hasn't really done much. It all went wrong somewhere.

[ILikeBeer]

Saying that, I remember Audley's early BBC fights as being at a good time in my life. I was at uni, and would often watch his fights with a few beers without really much of a care in the world. He did give me some good memories, even if his pro career wasn't what I'd hoped.

[n1ebf]

I'll complain to the Board if Harrison gets a licence, assuming he hasn't got one already. Runs for a year doesn't it? He didn't do a damn thing against the big American lad, not one damn thing. I was there. I like him, I think he's a good, engaging talker, and a decent bloke - but he just shouldn't be allowed near a boxing ring again, period. He did very little work against Michael Sprott and threw something like one jab at Haye - if you could call it a jab, it was like someone getting the salt out the kitchen cupboard that jab.

[danconnollyeire]

I'll complain to the Board if Harrison gets a licence, assuming he hasn't got one already. Runs for a year doesn't it? He didn't do a damn thing against the big American lad, not one damn thing. I was there. I like him, I think he's a good, engaging talker, and a decent bloke - but he just shouldn't be allowed near a boxing ring again, period. He did very little work against Michael Sprott and threw something like one jab at Haye - if you could call it a jab, it was like someone getting the salt out the kitchen cupboard that jab.

In non-Prizefighter bouts, he's thrown about 2 punches in four years

[Finn]

Audley beats most in the UK imo excluding fury, chisora, haye and price. But you put him in there with any of the other guys he wins. Guys like hughie fury and Joshua havent got the experience yet.

Fin

you owe me 6 quid for a new keyboard, laughed that hard I spilled my coffee and hobknobs

I've got a spare you can have but the only keys left on it are N E G and U.

If you cant already tell my love of Big Aud has blinded me to reality on many occasions.

[JimJim2009]

I'll complain to the Board if Harrison gets a licence, assuming he hasn't got one already. Runs for a year doesn't it? He didn't do a damn thing against the big American lad, not one damn thing. I was there. I like him, I think he's a good, engaging talker, and a decent bloke - but he just shouldn't be allowed near a boxing ring again, period. He did very little work against Michael Sprott and threw something like one jab at Haye - if you could call it a jab, it was like someone getting the salt out the kitchen cupboard that jab.

I think it was a bit more like someone reaching into the cupboard and rummaging for the salt, but not quite getting hold of it, and certainly not bringing it out of the cupboard