David Haye vs. Audley Harrison

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Best of Enemies
Date13 November 2010
VenueMEN Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom
Title(s) on the lineWBA Heavyweight Championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer United Kingdom David Haye United Kingdom Audley Harrison
Nickname "The Hayemaker" "A-Force"
Hometown Bermondsey, London Park Royal, London
Purse £4,200,000 £1,500,000
Pre-fight record 24–1 (22 KO) 27–4 (20 KO)
Age 30 years, 1 month 39 years
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 5+1⁄2 in (197 cm)
Weight 210+1⁄2 lb (95 kg) 253+1⁄2 lb (115 kg)
Style Orthodox Southpaw
Recognition WBA
Heavyweight Champion		 WBA
No. 13 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Haye defeated Harrison via 3th round TKO

David Haye vs. Audley Harrison, billed as Best of Enemies, was a professional boxing match contested on 13 November 2010, for the WBA Heavyweight championship.[1]

Background[edit]

After his stoppage win over former champion John Ruiz in his first defence, WBA champion David Haye entered into negotiations with the Klitschko brothers with Wembley Stadium and Stamford Bridge being mentioned possible venues.[2] This talks however were unsuccessful as the brothers agreed to face former champions Shannon Briggs and Samuel Peter instead. This left the main options for Haye as, European champion (and former amateur teammate) Audley Harrison and former 2 division champion Tomasz Adamek.[3] Ultimately Haye came to an agreement with Harrison to meet in November.[4]

The build up to bout was marked by a great amount of trashtalk from both fighters, including Haye saying "Fortunately, there are enough people in Britain who want to see him get destroyed, completely annihilated. That's why this fight is happening. They want me to close the curtain on the joke that is the Audley Harrison show." While Harrison said "When I came out of the Olympics they called me Muhammad Ali, then four years later I'm 'Fraudley'. But after this fight I'll be extraordinary.".[5][6]

It was expected that Haye' superior speed, coupled with his uppercut would give him the edge over the slower and innately more cautious Harrison.[7][8][9]

This was only third time in history that two brits had faced each other for the heavyweight title, and first on UK soil since Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno in 1993.

The fight[edit]

Harrison entered the ring to a chorus of boos, prompting BBC Radio 5 Live co-commentator Steve Bunce to comment that "Audley looks troubled, he looks nervous and he looks tormented".[10]

The first round was extremely tentative with neither fighter landing any punches. The second round started in the same vain before the referee briefly halted the action to encourage the pair to engage, prompting cheers from the crowd. Haye begin throwing more through the rest of the round, but nothing seemed to trouble the challenger. Haye came out firing at the start of the third and he hurt Harrison with a big right hand. Haye followed up with a pair of left-right combinations that sent Harrison down. He beat the count but Haye immediately launched a barrage of unanswered punching with Harrison against the ropes, prompting the referee to wave it off giving Haye a third-round TKO victory.[11][12][13] According to punchstats Harrison only landed 2 of the 28 punches (both jabs) he threw although the whole bout.

Aftermath[edit]

Harrison's performance was widely criticised by both boxing experts and fans,[14][15] leading to the British Boxing Board of Control withholding some of his purse while a full investigation of the bout was carried out.[16] After the investigation into the fight was concluded, Harrison would be granted his full purse on 11 January 2011.[17][18]

Haye would again call out the Klitschko brothers, with his trainer Adam Booth saying to BBC Radio 5 Live "They (the Klitschkos) want a defining fight and David wants a defining fight. David will be retiring in October next year so they haven't got a lot of time to speak sense. He'll take out Wladimir before summer and take care of Vitali after the summer."[19] Haye would face criticism for suggesting that he bet on himself to win in the third round saying in a post fight interview "I put a lot of money on the third round and a lot of my friends and family did. I didn't want to let them down by doing him too early. Ask around - I told everyone I'd knock him out in three rounds. That's exactly what I did. No way was he going into that fourth round."[20] He would later clarify that he didn't bet any money personally,[21] which was accepted by the BBBC.[22]

Undercard[edit]

Confirmed bouts:[23]

Broadcasting[edit]

Country Broadcaster
 Denmark TV2 Sport
 Germany ARD
 Hungary DigiSport
 Poland Polsat
 United Kingdom Sky Sports

References[edit]

  1. ^ "David Haye vs. Audley Harrison". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  2. ^ Press Association (13 April 2010). "Talks to start this week between David Haye and Klitschko brothers". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Klitschko brothers line up autumn bouts to leave David Haye frustrated". The Guardian. 31 July 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  4. ^ Jamie Jackson (3 September 2010). "David Haye close to setting date for WBA title defence against Audley Harrison". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Tale of the Traps". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  6. ^ Kevin Mitchell (12 November 2010). "David Haye sets sights on hard and fast finish against Audley Harrison". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  7. ^ Kevin Mitchell (12 November 2010). "David Haye's speed is crucial but Audley Harrison can slow him down". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  8. ^ "David Haye v Audley Harrison: Weapons and weaknesses". The Guardian. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  9. ^ Ben Dirs (12 November 2010). "Audley's final fling". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  10. ^ Nabil Hassan (13 November 2010). "Saturday boxing as it happened". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  11. ^ Evan Fanning (13 November 2010). "David Haye v Audley Harrison - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  12. ^ Ben Dirs (14 November 2010). "David Haye stops Audley Harrison to retain WBA title". bbc.co.uk. Manchester: BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Haye outclasses Harrison in one-sided title fight". espn.co.uk. ESPN. 13 November 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  14. ^ Kevin Mitchell (14 November 2010). "Explosive David Haye leaves Audley Harrison hurting with nowhere to hide". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  15. ^ Nomia Iqbal (15 November 2010). "David Haye and Audley Harrison fight 'a farce' say fans". bbc.co.uk. Manchester: BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Harrison faces BBBC probe", Sky Sports, 15 November 2010, retrieved 15 November 2010.
  17. ^ "Audley Harrison to be paid for David Haye bout", BBC Sport, 11 January 2011, retrieved 11 January 2011.
  18. ^ "Wages day for Harrison", Sky Sports, 11 January 2011, retrieved 11 January 2011.
  19. ^ Ben Dirs (14 November 2010). "David Haye targets Klitschko brothers for next fight". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  20. ^ ESPN staff (15 November 2010). "Board to probe Haye bet controversy". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  21. ^ "David Haye denies betting on himself to beat Harrison". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  22. ^ Press Association (15 November 2010). "David Haye to escape punishment over third-round betting claim". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  23. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by David Haye's bouts
13 November 2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Audley Harrison's bouts
13 November 2010 		Succeeded by
vs. Ali Adams
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