British Scene: Haye-Harrison Recap - A Damaging Night For British Boxing.

Dave Oakes recaps this past Saturday's heavyweight match-up between David Haye and Audley Harrison.

One Punch. That was how Audley Harrison backed up all of his words on Saturday night, with one solitary prodding jab. In the aftermath words such as disgrace, joke, laughingstock and embarrassment have all been used copiously by the media, and this article will be no different.

The majority of boxing fans knew what was going to happen but it didn’t make it less painful for those who paid good money, whether at the M.E.N or via PPV, to witness such a laughable display of cowardice. I’ve never been one for ripping into boxers without having good reason to - it takes a hell of a lot of courage to get inside a ring and get punched for a living. The trouble is that a boxer participating in a world title fight should be a proven competitor and one who’s not far off the pinnacle of their sport, Harrison was neither and had shown that throughout his career.

A few people had been duped into believing Harrison’s nonsensical ramblings in the build-up to the bout but it must have become apparent to them very quickly that Harrison was still the massive disappointment he always has been.

Harrison looked scared to death during his ring walk, on the brink of crying during the introductions and predictably went into hiding when the first bell rang. Two rounds of tedium saw neither fighter landing anything worth mentioning, Haye was the aggressor and Harrison was, well, Harrison.

Mercifully Haye brought proceedings to an abrupt end in the third round. A series of clubbing shots sent the petrified Harrison face first to the canvas, Harrison spat his gum shield out to buy time but the referee correctly put it straight back in without having it washed and let Haye finish the job - a handful of punches prompting the referee’s intervention.

Haye strode around the ring like a Knight who’d just slaughtered a dragon, looking far too pleased with himself considering he’d just played his part in one of the most derisory world title fights in history. To be fair, I’d probably look that smug if I’d just earned £5m for beating up someone with all the heart of the Tin Man. It’s a pity the fans had to be robbed of their money to pay for such a disgusting spectacle.

It’s hard to know who to blame most for the fight, Haye and his team for picking such an easy opponent, Sky for putting the fight on PPV and hyping it into something it wasn’t and was never going to be, or Harrison for yet another embarrassing performance.

Let’s start with Haye and his team. I can understand them wanting to make as much money as possible, and Harrison was always going to be a viable opponent in that respect, but he could’ve faced far more respectable opponents for only slightly less money. I guess it’s a case of what Haye wants to be remembered by in future years - someone who took on the best possible foes, or someone who handpicked them to make as much money as possible. I’m no promoter but surely there must be a happy medium.

Unfortunately, like I mentioned earlier, the majority of the money is generated by the fans and it’s fair to say they were less than impressed with what they saw. It wasn’t like they were treated to a top notch undercard either, Groves v Anderson was a good bout but that was it, there was nothing else worth mentioning. Even the British bantamweight title fight between Stuart Hall and Gary Davies was a disappointment. It’s undoubtedly the worst PPV card I can remember.

The fight will have done absolutely nothing to enhance Haye’s reputation, if anything, he may have lost some credibility due to the horrendous nature of the first two rounds and his post fight comments about making money on the fight by betting on himself to win in the third - comments which made him look like an egotistical braggart.

The fact the fight was on PPV was another kick in the teeth for British boxing. I’d like to know how Sky can justify making people pay £15 to watch less than eleven rounds of boxing. I can’t see how that can help build British boxing or help Sky with future PPV’s. The idiom ‘once bitten, twice shy’ may pop into a few peoples heads next time there’s a PPV show. The fans are the lifeblood of the sport and the moneymen should never forget that.

Finally, let’s take a look at Harrison’s part in this debacle. It’s fair to say that Harrison is an embarrassment to himself, to boxing and to all the fans who paid money to watch him over the years, but can we really blame him for this fight? I’d say partially rather than wholly, like a lot of people are suggesting.

Harrison was always going to fight cautiously but he could’ve used his jab much more than he did, he could’ve even grabbed and mauled Haye – it wouldn’t have been pretty to watch but it would’ve been more effective than the way he stood there and allowed himself to be hammered into submission.

The thing people can’t criticise is Harrison’s decision to take the fight. He’s rumoured to have earned a million to accept the fight, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Harrison genuinely thought he could win - he really is that delusional. And delusional is the prefect word to describe Harrison, even after the fight he commented that it might not be the end of ‘the dream’. I’m sorry but the bloke needs to get psychiatric help if he honesty believes he’s still got a future in boxing after this latest shambles in a career made up of hideous embarrassments.

As far as Haye’s future is concerned, the Klitschko’s are the only respectable opponents he can face if he wants to regain the fans trust and build a legacy worth mentioning twenty years from now. Hopefully a fight with either brother will happen next year.

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