17.02.07 – Bob Webb: Almost on the bell of round 3 at Wembley Arena last night, 32 year old underdog, Michael Sprott of Reading, England, crashed home a wild left hook on the defenceless and unprepared jaw of Audley ‘A-Force’ Harrison to send the 18+ stones of the London born former Olympian crashing to the canvas, out cold. Referee Ian John Lewis didn’t even bother with the count as Harrison lay prone.
A jubilant Michael Sprott who, before the scheduled 12 rounds fight for his EBU – European Union Heavyweight title and the vacant British Heavyweight title, was virtually the only one of millions who thought he would beat Harrison, leaped around the Wembley ring with a smile the Cheshire cat would have scowled at, as Harrison, 35 years old, was attended by his corner and medics still laying flat on the canvas. It was a shocking and sudden end to Audley Harrison’s brief comeback which started only last December against an inept Danny Williams in Harrison’s last outing.
Sprott was a rank outsider coming into the fight, his record of 29 wins (14 KOs) against 10 losses was hardly solid gold, his best wins so far being against the German, Rene Dettweiler (who? – exactly!), in defence of his EU title in his last fight, and a revenge points victory three years ago over Danny Williams – following two KO losses to the same boy from Brixton. The 6 ft tall Sprott, at 16 stone 8 lbs, wasn’t expected to give Harrison any trouble let alone leave him twitching on the canvas after three rounds, surely? Once the fight started he was even briefly down for a short count in round one following a beautiful overhand left from Harrison and after showing absolutely zero aggression up to that point. It was, we thought, Harrison’s fight, as predicted.
But if Michael Sprott is no Lennox Lewis, neither is Audley Harrison, regardless of his self-belief and hype. Two losses from his previous three fights don’t point to a great legacy in the making.
So, what to make of this event in boxing history – a shocking one but one which will prove very much a foot-note, with all due respect to either fighter.
After the fight, following a long and searching attempt at a recovery of his poise, Harrison had a few words finally with the TV interviewer in his dressing room. He was quiet but no less confident and no less determined to prove us all wrong yet again and to go on to win a world title. After all, he reasoned, these things happen in Heavyweight boxing, anyone can get caught by a punch like that and can be knocked out. Fair point, Audley, it was a punch which you didn’t see and could have knocked out almost anyone. So, let’s hear not too much speculation regarding a possible glass-jaw. Maybe he has, maybe he hasn’t. One punch doesn’t make a dodgy beard.
No, what worries me most is that Harrison admitted that following his brief knock down of Sprott in the first round, it upset his game-plan! I kid you not. Either the effects of the Sprott left-hook had yet to be swept from Audley’s head or he is a number one self-delusional dreamer of the first order, as most have long suspected. Audley, you knocked the guy down! How in the bowels of Christ can that upset your fight?
To give him the benefit of the doubt, I do sort of know what he means, but they’re not the words of a world class fighter and of that I have no doubt. Maybe, one day, Audley will prove us all wrong and get it all together. As I watched his interview I did at least see a man who admitted his mistakes, and therefore one could see this as yet another learning fight. But to believe that he has the nerve of a champion and the time to learn such elementary lessons as not hanging your chin out when your opponent is catching you with shots he shouldn’t be one would have to stretch one’s credulity to the maximum and beyond, I’m afraid.
Should he hang up his gloves? Not if he still has his enormous self-belief. Will he ever make it to British Champion, let alone the World? No, absolutely not. However little I think of the current champions, Wladimir Klitschko excepted, Audley Harrison has as much chance as I to contest a belt, unless he’s picked as an easy opponent for a voluntary defence. It’s his only chance and one he might actually take advantage of, Cinderella style. Otherwise, I must now firmly come down on the side of the sceptics and cynics.
But what he showed briefly in the first round, and to a steadily diminishing extent in the other two, was an aggressive stance from which he fired a fair selection of hard jabs and hooks and particularly a frequent left uppercut which reminds me of Lennox Lewis. He was effective and hurtful a puncher in the first round and he earned the knock-down with a hard body shot followed by a peach over-hand southpaw left to Sprott’s head. But the knockdown was brief. Although Sprott appeared to not threaten Harrison with anything meaningful in the first round, simply walking forward or standing still in front of Harrison with a high guard which Harrison pierced repeatedly with his punch selection including hurtful body punches, in the second round he quietly upped his work-rate as Harrison went off the boil.
He began to catch Harrison with jabs and crosses as Harrison became more reluctant to throw meaningful punches and was simply posing as he has done so many times in his career. It appeared that Audley, having had his man on the hook and on the canvas, had resorted to show-boating until he could land hard shots at will. But he had yet to really even start to soften Sprott up and as Harrison’s aggression waned, Sprott picked up the pace. Towards the end of the second, Sprott was out-working Harrison and Audley was starting to gently unravel.
Round three was Sprott’s from the bell. Finally he was out-jabbing the giant Harrison, 6 ft 5 inches with an 86 inch reach, and he landed a good right hand to the chin forcing Harrison to clinch. At this point it seemed clearer that Sprott’s fight strategy was to absorb any early aggression from Harrison and then come on strong, which was exactly what he was doing in the third. As well as landing heavy shots to Harrison’s alarmingly undefended chin, he was also basically just roughing him up and forcing Harrison to fight on his terms, down in the trenches. And Harrison simply isn’t that sort of fighter. Although he appeared to be still in control, just, Sprott was still there and working hard. In close, with Harrison seemingly happy to just lean on, Michael Sprott fired a low shot into Harrison’s body causing him to wince. The ref didn’t spot it and Sprott fired in another on the blind-side for good measure.
Harrison’s decision to come in close was ill-advised but it was understandable as Sprott was able to reach him from the outside, in defiance of Harrison’s reach and height advantages. Regardless, Harrison then elected to throw punches in an attempt to stem the Sprott tide. But now, at a distance, Sprott had punching room. As Harrison landed several punches in a row and wound up another left, Sprott let two of his own off, both wild, but the second, a big left-hook, caught Harrison flush on the jaw. He crashed face forward and sideways landing on his back – and out.
Referee Lewis declared the fight over without a count, officially stopping it on the three minute mark of the third.
Harrison’s still got a mountain to climb if his ambition is serious. The portents are not good. They’re lousy.