Can Audley Harrison become world heavyweight champion?

Perhaps Audley Harrison was more surprised than anyone else when he took the call that could lead to him fulfilling what he has always believed was his destiny.
That call came from Frank Warren and it was not the one the former Olympic super-heavyweight champion was expecting.

Officially, Harrison is on a two-man shortlist to face Samuel Peter for the WBC heavyweight title at the O2 Arena, East London, on July 12. The other man on the list is Matt Skelton who, having lost to Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA title in Dusseldorf in January, has been in training to face Sinan Samil Sam for the European title - a fight that has been put back from May 30 to July.

I have no idea what the criteria for selection is - it could be who will take the less money - but there is no doubt in my mind that Harrison would be the more interesting choice.

From Peter's point of view, it would be almost impossible to look good against Skelton, whereas he may look at Harrison and think there is a guy who can be knocked out. Then there is the fact that Harrison beat Peter as an amateur - albeit a rather uninspiring 3-2 win.

Then there is the Olympic gold medal, which cannot be overstated. A win over an Olympic gold-medal winner looks good on any record and Peter will know this. Leon Spinks, after all, got his shot at Muhammad Ali in his eighth fight - Pete Rademacher got a shot at Floyd Patterson on his debut.

Audley hasn't had the best of the last 18 months. After being knocked out by Michael Sprott in February last year - a fight he was well on the way to winning before he decided to abandon his normal style to chase a knockout - he was due to make a low-key return in Sheffield in September, only to be involved in a head-on car crash while leaving his training camp in Florida.

Among the injuries he suffered was a torn pectoral muscle, which required surgery. He finally made his return on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe v Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas on April 19, stopping Jason Barnett in the fifth round with a body shot.

While that was not the most impressive of displays, it is worth noting that he had only been back in training for three weeks - during which he had lost 9lb - so it is not surprising he was rusty. He was happy with the way his jab worked that night, but was looking forward to staying busy. His next fight was due to be on the undercard of the Kelly Pavlik-Gary Lockett bill in Atlantic City on June 7. Opportunity has probably knocked earlier than ideal, but in his position and aged 36, Harrison can't really pick and choose too much.

But he is a family man now, not the party-goer that returned from Sydney. He has moved from Las Vegas to California to be closer to the family of his wife, Raychel, so she can get help with their young daughter, Ariella, when Harrison is away training in Florida. Harrison doesn't need boxing for financial reasons, but he still has ambition.

Can he beat Peter? In his favour, Peter is slow and Harrison has a 5in height advantage and a good jab. So the plan would be stick Peter on the end of the jab and move, like Wladimir Klitschko did. Can he do that for 12 rounds successfully? Finding out is what makes this an intriguing fight.

Comments

[bob]

Intriguing fight?! Your work's usually real good--thoughtful, insightful and balanced. That said, the thought that Harrison has any shred of a chance against Peter is (to be charitable) unrealistic. The only intrigue would be the round in which Harrison would be knocked out, how many times he'd hit the deck before it was stopped.

By the way, I saw Harrison fight in California; it was a joke. The most noise the crowd made: a thundering chant of "This fight sucks." If you've heard of the wisdom-of-crowds theory, it most assuredly applied in this case....

[Nick Stone]

Harrison has talent but no heart. He lost against a fat, out of shape (and breath) Danny Williams (ok, he avenged it, but Williams took the return at a week's notice), and then got himself knocked out by Sprott - a non puncher. I can't see him beating Samuel Peter, and Klitschko would use him as a rag to dry his gumshield with.

[James Mac]

Audley isn't even in the WBC's top 40. How does he deserve a shot at the title?

[Phill Arrowsmith]

Good luck to Fraudley but this is an absolute disgrace and an embarrassment to boxing. Since 2000 he has done nothing to suggest that he has the heart or desire to become a world champion, despite his decent boxing skills, and would be the most undeserving contender since...well Matt Skelton probably!
How on earth has a world champion been allowed to come up with a short list of these two? Neither is anywhere near world level. I thought that even voluntary defences had to come from the organisations top 15? Surely neither of these can be that highly ranked.

[Adam C]

Audley has always had talent. If he can get himself into shape and get his mind right, I would never rule him out. People always underestimate what he achieved by winning Olympic gold.