Former Olympic Boxing Heavyweight gold medallist Audley Harrison has announced that he is set to make a return to the ring at the age of 41, just 20 days after announcing his retirement from the sport. Harrison originally announced his retirement on the 1st of May just four days after an embarrassing defeat to the hands of American Deontay Wilder, a fight which lasted just 70 seconds.
After turning professional in 2001 after claiming gold at the Sydney Olympics, Harrison has gone on to win 31 of his 38 professional bouts whilst losing seven of them. The Harlesden hit man’s most embarrassing defeat came against fellow British heavyweight David Haye back in November 2010 when Haye knocked ‘A-force’ out in three rounds with Harrison seemingly reluctant to throw any punches in the WBA World Heavyweight Title bout.
He recovered from his defeat to Haye by claiming a technical knockout against Ali Adams in May 2012 but Harrison fell, literally, to the 6th loss of his career to Liverpool’s big punching giant David Price. But after winning the Heavyweight prizefighter tournament in March 2013, Deontay Wilder was just too strong for him as it took him just over a minute to all but send Harrison into retirement.
Despite enjoying 20 days of retirement, Harrison, who stands at a massive 6 ft 5, claims to be in the ‘best shape’ of his career. He earlier released a statement onto his website.
‘When I made the tough decision to walk away from boxing, I knew it was not going to be easy. As the days past, I knew I would not be able to live with the decision. I wrestled with it for weeks, and spoke to everyone from the boxing board. Ultimately seeing my son born crystalised my decision’ Harrison told his website.
‘If I don’t get up and try again, everything I stood for would mean nothing. People who worry I may get hurt, I thank you for your concerns. We live in a free society and my desire for freedom and autonomy is my universal right’.
Although boxing fans on social networking site Twitter do not seem impressed with Harrison’s controversial u-turn which has definitely got people talking. Graeme Divers (@gramzod) said ‘Audley Harrison back out of retirement! How many times is it going to take him saying he is in the best of shape then getting knocked out.’
Many tweeters saw it as an opportunity to make fun of Harrison including Michael Di Paola (@MichaelDiPaola) who commented ‘Audley Harrison’s website taking a good few hits this evening & struggling to cope I see. Still, much better than Audley Harrison himself’.
Although, former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis came out in support of his close associate. Commenting on the situation through his twitter profile (@LennoxLewis), Lewis believes that Harrison should retire under his own chosen circumstances. ‘The thing with Audley is you don’t want to go away second guessing yourself. I understand that. It is important to retirement on your own terms’.
Harrison’s comeback opponent has not yet been announced but he may look closer to home with the likes of Sam Sexton, Derek Chisora and Tyson Fury all standing in the way of Harrison’s quest to claim a British title.