BoxRec

A humble blog from Audley there, respect.

I hope his health is okay, he is certainly alluding to some cognitive issues.

stujones wrote:A humble blog from Audley there, respect.

I hope his health is okay, he is certainly alluding to some cognitive issues.

x2, couldn't agree more.

magwitch wrote:

stujones wrote:A humble blog from Audley there, respect.

I hope his health is okay, he is certainly alluding to some cognitive issues.

x2, couldn't agree more.

X3 I have been a critic of his but I wish him well

ILikeBeer wrote:

danamba7 wrote:Highlight of his pro career? Stopping Williams? Winning the EBU?

Low point has to be the Haye fight. No disgrace in losing to Haye but probably the worst performance I've ever seen in a world title fight.

The high point was selling the fight to punters.

I have never understood why anybody paid for that. It was such a mismatch, I legitimately thought Harrison might suffer serious injury in the ring.

The fact that it was boring, Harrison stalled, but managed to get away with his health was probably the best possible outcome. Yet a lot of people acted like it was some massive, must watch fight. I didn't understand why then, and I don't know. The press had been slating Audley as below domestic level for years, and suddenly people believe he's world class.

I had tickets for the Haye fight and sold them a week before for double the price

spudder56 wrote:

magwitch wrote:

stujones wrote:A humble blog from Audley there, respect.

I hope his health is okay, he is certainly alluding to some cognitive issues.

x2, couldn't agree more.

X3 I have been a critic of his but I wish him well

I admire him for trying,he kept getting up and having another go,he didn't hesitate in taking on 2 very big punchers in Price and Wilder,more than Fury did and all this despite having absolutely no fan base,good luck to him,i wish him well.

You don't tend to hear much about fighters post career, boxing related health battles. It's kind of left unspoken about isn't it?

It makes you think, ok Audley was KO'd a few times, but what must guys like Nigel benn, Carl Thompson, Michael Gomez and Chris Eubank have to endure later in life? Puts me off the sport thinking about that.

To echo what a lot of people said, I think Audley always comes across as a really decent fella.

The reality is, or at least in my opinion, he was never going to make a big mark in the professional game as he just doesn't have a 'nasty streak'.

The big difference about him and Anthony Joshua is that you can see AJ loves beating people up, whereas I dont think Audley ever had that. Which in the pro ranks at the highest level does make a difference I believe.

Wasn't there an IFL interview with him a year or so ago out in LA where he was talking about his wife's beauty salon they had just opened? I am sure this whole bankruptcy situation doesn't mean he doesn't have two pennies to rub together.

Its for the best really,he's been great for boxing,his amateur achievements should never be underestimated, especially the knock on affect his gold medal in Sydney had for other young aspiring boxers

His pro career has been underwhelming but he still won a European title and fought for a world title so his names in the books,for that he can be grateful

Like most people his age,he probably regrets some of the stuff it happened when he was younger,he had a pretty big ego which definitely had an affect on his progression,no matter what you achieve in the ams,you've no divine right to succeed in the pros but no doubt there's a touch of wasted talent there

I've always liked him and I hate when I hear fans booing him constantly, especially when you consider that 95% of the people don't have a clue what he's done,they just knew he was a figure of fun

I wish him all the best and I'd love to see him as a pundit as he has a big personality

bigjack wrote:

spudder56 wrote:

X3 I have been a critic of his but I wish him well

I admire him for trying,he kept getting up and having another go,he didn't hesitate in taking on 2 very big punchers in Price and Wilder,more than Fury did and all this despite having absolutely no fan base,good luck to him,i wish him well.

If Wilder had got in the ring in Sheffield with an aversion to throwing punches it would have been a first in British boxing as I honestly don't think Audley knew how to hit him. It wasn't there.

I wonder why the big guy has decided to give such an honest and open account of his health and financial affairs now, maybe he feels unburdened by doing so. You can't but respect what he says about trying to go it alone, probably with an eye to many a heavyweight before him who was stitched up. A hard jungle to navigate. Very candid.

I'll always be sceptical of the idea that he had the talent to be a world champion as a pro - frankly it wasn't just spite he was missing, it was the chin, heart, stamina, head movement and fluidity! But he was a great amateur who deserves to be remembered as such, and anyone who sets foot in an amateur boxing gym should be grateful to him for what he did 15 years ago Down Under - our amateurs have never been so well funded.

I don't know why people are so hard on Audley it's not he ever hurt anyone. ... boom boom DD

magwitch wrote:

Boxerbeetle wrote:

ILikeBeer wrote:Maybe he could go into punditry? He seems quite likeable as a personality, and talks more sensibly about other people's careers than he did about his own.

Or would people not be able to take him seriously?

Agree, I think he'd make an excellent pundit, hope Sky sign him up.

I think he's a good and articulate fella. I'm not sure what level of fights or company of pundits he could sit on, I mean, 3 rounds and one cautious jab in a world title fight tells its own tale - but he's charismatic and it's another take on things I guess. I'd like him as a pundit.

That's actually one of my big bug-bears - the idea that a pundit has to have competed at the highest level of the sport to have any credibility. I just think it's nonsense. Most of the worst pundits only have jobs because of who they are & what they accomplished; the fact that they're terrible pundits with limited knowledge seems not to matter.

Regardless, Audley has boxed for a world title & has an Olympic gold medal so he has sufficient credentials, he'd do a much better job than almost all of Sky's current team imo.

Much of his career was bonus time. He went pro aged 30 so to get over a decade is more than he could have hoped for.

What he says about educating fighters about finances is a better idea than becoming a trainer I think. Hopefully he could get a retainer from the BBBofC and get some sponsorship rather than taking his fees from the fighters. Because a 25 year-old contender is unlikely to want to pay for financial advice. But the career is short, and elite sportsmen can't work on a backup plan when the challenge ahead is so difficult.

A well-worn path for (ex) boxers has been poor money management. The list of boxers who have faced bankruptcy is as long as the list of dead wrestlers. Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe appear to be exceptional in that they haven't had any health or financial problems since retirement. You name any retired boxer, and the chances are they've run into serious problems in retirement. Drugs, debt, jail, drugs, divorce, illness, depression...

surfthehurf wrote:Much of his career was bonus time. He went pro aged 30 so to get over a decade is more than he could have hoped for.

What he says about educating fighters about finances is a better idea than becoming a trainer I think. Hopefully he could get a retainer from the BBBofC and get some sponsorship rather than taking his fees from the fighters. Because a 25 year-old contender is unlikely to want to pay for financial advice. But the career is short, and elite sportsmen can't work on a backup plan when the challenge ahead is so difficult.

A well-worn path for (ex) boxers has been poor money management. The list of boxers who have faced bankruptcy is as long as the list of dead wrestlers. Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe appear to be exceptional in that they haven't had any health or financial problems since retirement. You name any retired boxer, and the chances are they've run into serious problems in retirement. Drugs, debt, jail, drugs, divorce, illness, depression...

Depends how switched on they are. Froch has been in the property game for a while now. Says in his book he won the title and then in the days after was doing up one of his properties.

I think he celebrated his second Groves win in London by cleaning his London rental flat from top to bottom at 4 in the morning. That's rock and roll. I love that - his book is like almost the opposite of the way he comes across. It was very refreshing.

magwitch wrote:I think he celebrated his second Groves win in London by cleaning his London rental flat from top to bottom at 4 in the morning. That's rock and roll. I love that - his book is like almost the opposite of the way he comes across. It was very refreshing.

Wonder if any of his tenants have ever been late with (or withheld) rent? :)

magwitch wrote:I think he celebrated his second Groves win in London by cleaning his London rental flat from top to bottom at 4 in the morning. That's rock and roll. I love that - his book is like almost the opposite of the way he comes across. It was very refreshing.

It was Kessler II. Literally read that section of the book 2 nights ago! Cleaned inside the oven and everything!

danamba7 wrote:

magwitch wrote:I think he celebrated his second Groves win in London by cleaning his London rental flat from top to bottom at 4 in the morning. That's rock and roll. I love that - his book is like almost the opposite of the way he comes across. It was very refreshing.

It was Kessler II. Literally read that section of the book 2 nights ago! Cleaned inside the oven and everything!

Was it Kessler II? My mistake! - I forgot about the oven. That's almost as impressive as the victory itself

Apart from his performances in the ring-I would argue with someone above who said he lacked various skills-I think Audley is argubaly one of the most naturally talented heavyweights we have had-fast hands, good movement, athletic-In the gym, and in the amateurs he could box the ears of most-but I dont think he ever really believed in himself when it came down to the actual fighting-I think he kept wanting to talk himself into it, but unlike Haye who actually did and does believe he was the best, I dont think Audley ever really did.

Anyone who has ever spent real time with him does not have a bad word to say about the guy, and he was a very entertaining part of the heavyweight mix up.

ILikeBeer wrote:The fact that it was boring, Harrison stalled, but managed to get away with his health was probably the best possible outcome. Yet a lot of people acted like it was some massive, must watch fight. I didn't understand why then, and I don't know.

I think it was more due to the fact that Haye hadn't fought a legitimately large AND athletic heavyweight. Both Ruiz and Barrett were past it and relatively small and slow, whereas Valuev was gigantic, but couldn't get near Haye.

In 'his day', Audley had a 'decent' jab, but through possibly age and a couple of pectoral tears, it devolved into a pawing pathfinder jab that was mostly there to set up his southpaw straight left.

I figured that IF Audley could set Haye up with his straight left then due to the size difference, Haye could be stopped. It's clear that Haye was too smart and fast to fall into that trap and patiently waited to find an opening, despite the crowd booing the entire fight.

Regardless of what people think of Audley, he won a few belts and achieved more than most boxers will. As Hearn said recently, his problem was that he talked such a good game.

I remember when the Haye fight was announced, I thought it would be over within a couple, but after listening to Audley, I actually thought he may have a punchers chance. It didn't end well.

He did great to win a gold medal, and I hope for him that it will be his legacy. Like others I think he would be a good pundit for the sport and wish him all the best.

Audley's done great really to be fair to him, he maybe could have been looked after a bit better in his career, but he had the control himself so it's his own fault I suppose. Great talker and seller of fights I can't think of many better he would make a brilliant promoter? Good luck Audley you gave some great entertainment over the years thanks.

I was at Auds pro debut at Wembley Arena and sitting just behind Robin Reid's super-excitable friends and family. It was a big night, a real atmosphere in the place and a great deal of goodwill for Audley. It felt like the start of something.

But...the moment Middleton waddled to the ring, you could somehow feel the whole room drop. Middleton was obese and breathless, probably the must unfit guy in the building and it felt like a con.....even for a debut fight. Everyone left that night feeling short-changed and severely pissed-off.

And there would be more fights like that as well....badly misjudged by Audley in terms of giving paying customers something to watch and him learning the basics of the professional business. He did not develop and wasted valuable time; and the fans felt short-changed.

A real bloody shame...it could and should have been very different.

Benelio wrote:
I figured that IF Audley could set Haye up with his straight left then due to the size difference, Haye could be stopped.

No. He couldn't.

Audley couldn't stop Mark Krence and Dominic Negus. How the hell was he going to stop David Haye?

ive been quite hard on him in the past - but purely because he really did have the tools to be a very good fighter. but alas he did not have the psychological side worked out. he looked the biz against danny - but came apart against guys who had more guts and will than he did. this infuriated me and many others - I thought he wasted what assets he had through being not up to the mark in his own head. ezzard Charles psyche was, in some ways, very similar - although in a more magnificent form.

but he certainly was/is very likeable and I wish him well