Boxing:Audley Harrison has decided to carry on fighting despite last month's pathetic defeat by David Haye. The 2000 Olympic gold medalist was granted an unlikely shot at Haye's WBA heavyweight title last month only to capitulate completely, barely throwing a punch before being stopped in the third round.
Harrison was hurt but unapologetic in the wake of that defeat by his London rival in Manchester, and has today insisted he will continue his career - though he did stop short of claiming his world title ‘destiny’ is still within reach.
The 39-year-old said in a statement: “After spending some time away reflecting on the fight and outcome, I have made the decision to continue my journey in boxing and carry on my career as a professional.
“The David Haye experience had many highs away from the ring and I’m happy I had a great training camp and worked with two of my brothers again in camp.
“I surrounded myself with a world-class team and pushed myself to the limit in training and left my changing room knowing I had given my all to get to this point.
“The outcry from the fight is expected as I didn’t get the result I wanted and the critics have once again tried to bury me under the rubble and hope I disappear. All I can say is I had a game plan and went into the ring to win. The way the fight ended was frustrating to me as I didn’t get going and was just settling into my rhythm.
“Both styles of feinting and moving was off-setting the both of us in the first two rounds and I was just zoning in on his rhythm when he got through.
“I’ll never be ‘crash-bang-wallop’ and I’m glad about that; my style is unique but can run into problems like all styles can and I got caught by a good set of punches to go down.
“I give David credit as I never expected him to hurt me as he did, but anyone could see it was a premature stoppage and I should have been allowed to carry on and ride out the rough patch, even if that meant I would have got KO’d.”
‘A-Force’ added: “I think the Vitali Klitschko beating of Shannon Briggs a few weeks earlier and the public outcry made the referee jump in early and I was denied the opportunity to show my grit, determination and desire to be in there and compete and try to get back on level terms.
“Let the haters and negative comments continue - I don’t really care. I know me and I can sleep at night as I’m happy with who I am today. Yes it hurts not to achieve your goals, but we roll up our sleeves and we try again; such is the beauty of life.”