Audley suffers rib injury

13 April 2012

Audley Harrison pulled out of his second professional fight last night, leaving the BBC to prop up the rest of tomorrow week's promotion in Liverpool.

The injury-plagued start to the British Olympic super-heavyweight champion's paid career is stuttering again, this time because of a rib cracked in training.

Harrison hopes that his meeting with Derek McCafferty - a predictable formality against a Scot who has lost the last three of his five pro fights - can be re-scheduled for September.

While the delay may be only two months, it does raise another worrying question mark against a multi-million-pound enterprise which has had a farcical launch.

Harrison's professional debut against American private investigator Mike Middleton was almost called off because of contract disputes which cost the Briton an extra $30,000.

Then the fight itself was stopped almost as soon as it started with Middleton hopelessly outclassed. For this, BBC Television were reported to have paid £1million up front to kick-start a 10-fight or two-year contract with Harrison, whichever is completed first.

Harrison took seven months, which included surgery on a damaged hand in New York and countless celebrity appearances, between winning gold in Sydney and fighting Middleton at Wembley.

At 29, time is not on his side in his quest to follow in the footsteps of Lennox Lewis all the way to the world heavyweight championship. Now his rib is cracked, robbing his self-managed promotion in Liverpool of its own star attraction.

The show will go on - Robin Reid's title fight and Herbie Hide's latest comeback included - but the BBC is likely to shift transmission from live on Saturday night to tape-recorded later.

That in itself is an act of faith. But it will not want Harrison to lose any more momentum, nor risk further damage to public credibility. Lewis looks set to accept an offer of around £9m from promoter Don King for a rematch against Hasim Rahman.

King has offered the fighters $12.5m each for a second clash after Lewis lost his WBC and IBF titles to the American in a fifth-round knock-out in South Africa. October 6 has been put forward as a possible date.

Lewis' manager, Frank Maloney, said yesterday: 'There has been no decision but the recommendation is for Lennox to accept the offer.' No ties regarding future promotions are thought to be in the offer and Lewis believes a match against Mike Tyson can be arranged if he beats Rahman.

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