He’s Behind You
‘IT has been a boxing truism for an age that the crowds have all the best fights.
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| ”You can run, but you can’t Hide” |
Audley Harrison versus Matthew Ellis was never going to be a thriller – or even much of a fight. Those who had packed York Hall, Bethnal Green, were surely not all there to watch boxing history in the making.
Audley Harrison duly cruised to an easy win, and then looked into the crowd for his next opponent.
Having done away with a collection of cab divers, newspaper boys and brickies, Harrison wanted another member of Joe Public to make him look good.
With no-one forthcoming – at this point Hulk Hogan, Clint Eastwood or his pet orang-utan would have done – the Hendon Howitzer held a question and answer session.
Who would you like me to fight next? he asked. With the word’s ”my mum” ready to ooze out, Harrison qualified his question, stripping a world of big-money showdowns to just two – he’d fight Herbie Hide or Frank Bruno.
As if by magic, both boxers suddenly appeared near the ring. The crowd around Bruno cried ”Brun-o” and the rest of us screamed: ”He’s behind you!” Hide just screamed.
And at last we had a fight on our hands. Yes, it shames the sport does all this scrapping in the crowd. But who did Hide hit?
”Hide pushed a female fan to the floor,” says the BBC report. And that was that. Herbie hide beat up a woman.
But before you criticise, note that Hide has just stepped up a class.
In 1994, he scuffled with Michael Bentt and in 1999 he attempted to rile British champion Danny Williams into another besuited punch-up. This one actually looked like an impromptu event.
But the night was all about Harrison, the man who plans to be champion of the world by the time he’s 35 – he’s 31 now.
”This is the Audley Harrison Show,” said Harrison after the fight. ”I don’t know why Herbie Hide was sitting ringside.”
If you like that comment, get a load of this one from British Boxing Board of Control general secretary Simon Block: ”I said before the show it was not a good idea to have two boxers in such close proximity.”
Perhaps he was referring to Bruno and Hide? But this was an Audley Harrison bout – so he could have been talking about Matthew Ellis.
Remember him..?
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Posted: 2nd, June 2003 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
