HARRISON MAY FIGHT ON........... Facepalm atsch Audley Harrison insists he can hold his head high despite only landing one punch in his crushing third-round defeat to David Haye - and also hinted he could continue his boxing career. The 2000 Olympic gold medallist's first shot at a world title ended in embarrassment as his former friend and WBA heavyweight champion put him to the sword without hardly breaking sweat in Manchester on Saturday night. After two cagey rounds of precious little action, prompting the capacity crowd to vehemently boo with disapproval, the fight suddenly came to life when Haye unleashed a vicious assault to send the 39-year-old challenger to the canvas. Despite beating the count, Harrison looked vulnerable and terrified as his former friend ruthlessly went in for the kill and after another relentless attack forced him onto the ropes, referee Luis Pabon had no option but to stop the bout. The crowd mocked a well beaten Harrison with derogatory chants as he left the ring, and many expected the Londoner to call time on his career. However, Harrison defended his tactics which had come in for so much criticism and also played down talk of retirement. "The way David Haye feints and steps across, the idea early on was to keep stepping close," said Harrison. "We knew we might not be landing clean shots, but if you look at his fights most people don't land on him. "The idea was that I was getting closer and closer to him and that was the plan, as well as obviously not getting caught by any of his clean shots he was trying to land. I was getting closer and closer and I was able to see his shots and catch them. "I felt the game plan we were implementing was being put together." Did he really believe that? "I do believe that," he responded. "The crowd weren't just booing Audley Harrison, they were booing David Haye. He was unable to just throw punches because he was looking for my counter punch and the way I was feinting meant he was able to get off the line." Harrison "wouldn't accept" he brought nothing to the fight, adding: "It was a bit cat and mouse early on but if anyone has watched me and David spar that's how it is with us. He's a counter-puncher primarily and so am I." Asked if he felt he'd now had enough of the ridicule that he's faced throughout his career, Harrison added: "Many people would dream about the opportunity of fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world. "And where I've come from, bumping into Eddie Hearn, having this burning desire to be a world champion, winning Prizefighter and winning the European title with one arm helped me come to this position of fighting David Haye - a former friend - but I wasn't able to pull it out. "I'll lick my wounds and walk with my head proud because my story from start to finish has been a successful journey of overcoming adversity and I'll continue to overcome adversity. "People will obviously find glee and happiness to ridicule me but look at their own life - don't worry about me. I'm OK. I'm happy I had my shot and I give credit to David for landing that shot. No excuses." Pressed about retirement, Harrison (27-5, 20KOs) replied: "The main thing I'm disappointed about is not getting the chance to implement our game plan - that's the frustration part of it that will irk me. "I spent 12 weeks in camp and that's going to burn me. It's definitely not a waste - I went in there to win and I paid the price to win. "There's a lesson in me losing here. I felt it was my moment and I felt great walking out there. I felt great by this whole campaign. I felt I got to David in the build-up to this and I was ready to put the icing on the cake. "I need to sit down and reflect where I go from here - it's mission incomplete."
Like Audely said, it was a punch to the back of the head and the fight should not have been stopped. He was fine to go on and was right on his game plan. There should be an immediate rematch.
