agreed,even if audley is up for it I think he is past it now. His chance to really shine came and went.
I am a fan of David Price, but i am a passionate long time fan of Audley Harrison. When i first joined these forums, i was a passionate fan of Danny Williams and Audley Harrison. Then..? David Haye came into the equation. I don't get the nerves or tension, when watching any other fighters but Harrison & Haye. It takes time for fighters to start to resonate with me on that kind of emotional level.
I dont know why I've never really been convinced by Audley; he posses everything to mix it with the elite, except mentality and perhaps strenght of character, I didn't feel convinced in the lead up to the Haye fight; however, I believe him when he says he will come out against Price, and win or loose, I think he'll put on a show. I don't see Price knocking him out early, I see the first few rounds as each other probing the other, finding range with the jab and just establishing themselves. I fancy a late stoppage, and all the talk is of how weak Audley is, but I think Price will be found wanting on the world stage, I just dont think he has the chin. It'll be a good fight, definitely a step up for Price, and certainly a fight Harrison can win.
Harrison 'can win' only in the sense all Price opponents with any sort of punch might have a chance of winning, due to chin suspicions. Not on any kind of merit when we match their performances/abilities head to head, because there is absolutely nothing about Audley that suggests he's the winner here. Also I find the assertions about Audley's supposed talent laughable. Talent in an amateur ring is one thing and talent in a professional ring another. Audley has never been convincing. You can put it down to mentality, or whatever else, but whatever the reason is for it he's never shown any of the things stated on this thread by a few people on any sort of consistent basis and never past a certain level so when you are talking about this 'talent' its a very mythical, impossible to pin down fantasy... Size? Meaningless unless you can do something with it. Fast? Sure he WAS decent athletically, not exceptional though. David Haye was always faster, by a lot. The Klitschko's probably punch faster punch for punch, in Vitali's prime anyway and I'll concede this is one of Audley's better assets and he's still barely cracking top 5. Uses his range well? As I said, against who? Never done this on a consistent basis, thats his problem. His use of footwork is nothing better than ordinary. Defence? No, not really. Very upright and can be hit easily, and thats at domestic level. Against David Haye as soon as Haye summed him up he was cannon fodder and fell apart defensively. Power? Yeah its okay at domestic/European level, not earth shattering for a guy his size though. All Audley is and ever has been is smoke and mirrors, a few decent looking punches mechanically speaking, southpaw stance that people jizz over in the heavies, size and reach yes...but none of it amounted to anything and its not just because of whats going on upstairs. He's simply not all that talented in a pro ring. it's annoying how people harp on about his amazing talent thats just locked away destined to go unfulfilled...total load of rubbish. All that said, even if he did have all the assets people try to build him up as having, if you can't show them because mentally you're not up to it what is that talent? Is it even talent at all not to be able to produce regardless of what it is that stops you? Thats one for another day though.
Yeah, any doubts I have about Price winning are solely based around his chin. Harrison is nowhere near good enough to outbox Price, nor is he mentally strong enough to outright him. The only way I see a Harrison win, is if the much maligned Price chin shows up for the first time as a pro and he gets knocked out off a stupid shot. I'm confident Price will win by an early knockout though. Even at his absolute peak as a pro, Harrison is inferior to Price
Price's chin is hugely suspect - I read an interview the other day where he counted out the times he 'remembered' being down in significant amateur fights and it was into double figures by his own reckoning. And you have to believe it is far more than that as he neglected, for example, to mention Tyson Fury dropping him - even though Fury has now put the footage online. So, absolutely if Harrison lands - if Price went down that many times with headgear on - I would think he'll be hitting the floor quite hard. The question is - will Harrison even land before Price takes him out? I'm not sure.