British Scene Weekend Recap: Harrison Claims Euro Belt In Sensational Style

Dave Oakes recaps this past Friday's European heavyweight title clash between Audley Harrison and Michael Sprott.  Check back tomorrow for Dave's recap of the European middleweight title bout featuring Darren Barker and Affif Belghecham.

Photos © Justin McKie - photo gallery from both main-events

Audley Harrison won the European title on Friday night after he produced a remarkable comeback victory, knocking out Michael Sprott in the twelfth and final round of a fight in which he was miles behind on the scorecards. Harrison, who had struggled to find any sort of rhythm throughout the fight, floored Sprott with a vicious left hook that had the Reading man unconscious before he’d hit the canvas.

The first round was a quiet affair; Harrison prodded out a soft looking jab but did little else, whilst Sprott cagily stalked Harrison around the ring. One thing that was noticeable, and is a major flaw in Harrison’s make up, was that he flinched every time Sprott fired a punch at him. It’s strange to see such a big bloke looking scared to death at the prospect of being hit - it’s clear that Harrison isn’t a natural fighter.

Sprott had a big second round. He caught Harrison with a solid left hook early on; Harrison responded well and fired back with several punches but didn’t land anything of note. Harrison got a ticking off from the referee for talking to Sprott too much, a condition he also suffers from outside the ring. Sprott then landed a huge straight right that hurt Harrison badly, Harrison clung on and bought himself time but at that stage it looked like it was only a matter of time before he got knocked out again.

The first half of the third round was uneventful as a petrified looking Harrison went into his shell and barely threw a punch. Sprott liked what he was seeing and began to rough Harrison up against the ropes, landing a hefty uppercut that made Harrison wince. Harrison finished the round well; he finally started throwing punches and was looking good until he got caught by another straight right just before the bell.

Sprott dominated the next few rounds; he was the only boxer who was trying to win the fight. Harrison had gone very negative and was allowing himself to be outworked by Sprott, who was landing telling blows to both head and body, the best of which were a left hook under the ribs at the end of the fourth and a right uppercut that seemed to hurt Harrison in the sixth.

Harrison turned orthodox in the fifth round and mainly boxed that way for the remainder of the fight. It was revealed after the fight that he was suffering from an injury to his right shoulder that prevented him from using his right hand.

With the fight slipping away from him, Harrison upped his work rate in the eighth round. He wasn’t particularly impressive but he was at last throwing punches, albeit with his left hand only.

After a promising eighth, Harrison reverted back to his negative tactics in the ninth. Sprott landed two thumping right uppercuts at the beginning of the round and, despite looking increasingly tired, outworked Harrison yet again.

The tenth and eleventh were clear rounds for Sprott; he was pushing Harrison back towards the ropes and catching him repeatedly with the straight right. Harrison looked resigned to defeat and was making no attempt to turn the fight around, his lack of heart apparent for everyone.

Sprott was well ahead going into the final round (by five points on one card and by four on the other two) but decided to take the fight to Harrison instead of looking to see the round out safely. I can see why he took that approach; Harrison can’t fight under pressure and looks petrified when trying to do so, which makes what followed even more remarkable.

Sprott jumped on Harrison as soon as the bell sounded to start the round, he was winging in punches like a man possessed and staggered Harrison with a big left hook. It looked like Harrison could unravel at any moment, especially when Sprott landed a jolting right uppercut, but he had other ideas and landed the best punch of his career to bring proceedings to a shockingly abrupt end.

I’ve no idea whether Harrison threw the left hook out of frustration, desperation or natural instinct, but one thing I do know is that it was one of the most remarkable and unexpected finishes to any fight I’ve seen in a British ring.

Harrison deserves praise for the way he turned the fight around but let’s not fool ourselves when it comes to talking about his performance as a whole. He was very negative, was hurt three or four times and didn’t look at all comfortable when Sprott was throwing punches at him. He called out David Haye and the Klitschko’s after the fight, if he genuinely believes he’s at that level then he’s far more deluded than I thought. He wouldn’t last two rounds with any of them and will be lucky to have a long reign as European champion.

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