Harrison unlikely to lose £1m purse and he may fight again
AUDLEY HARRISON’S camp are confident the Olympic gold medallist will retain his £1m purse from Saturday’s defeat against David Haye, despite the British Boxing Board of Control stating they might withhold the money.
Harrison (right) landed with just one punch before Haye stopped him in the third round of their WBA heavyweight title fight in Manchester on Saturday night.
Board of Control secretary Robert Smith said on Monday: “Withholding some or all of Audley Harrison’s purse is certainly something we’ll have to sit down and consider.”
But sources close to Harrison maintain the Board of Control are yet to make any form of contact with their man and insist any attempt to attest that Harrison didn’t try would be almost impossible to prove and would be a long, drawn out process.
Moreover, any potential case would have to be raised by Hayemaker Promotions – an eventuality that would seem most unlikely.
As for the future, Harrison, 39, has yet to make a decision as to whether he’ll fight on and said in a statement yesterday: “I’m not sure where I go from here in boxing, but I’ll lick my wounds, take some time out with my family and see.”
Meanwhile, the BBBC are willing to accept David Haye’s “categorical” denial he bet on himself to stop Harrison in the third round.
However, the BBBC have confirmed they would discuss the fighter’s remarks at their board meeting next month.
Haye told Radio 5 Live: “I didn’t physically go into a betting shop and say ‘here’s x amount of money’. What I did say was I would knock Audley out in three rounds.