ChewBradley, Darth Judah, Lando Alexander, Obi-Wan Khanobi – who's the best in the star-packed light welterweight division?

Plus the pod take aim at Bob Arum, Floyd Mayweather, Jose Sulaiman and even Muhammad Ali... all this, plus reports on Matthew Hatton, previews of the Marquez/Diaz card and more.

The future for David Haye, Amir Khan, Manny Pacquiao and more is discussed as the pod previews the second half of 2010.

Wins for Juan Manuel Lopez and Andre Ward are also reviewed, plus we look at boxing's best comebacks and discover the most awesome nickname in world boxing. It's good to be back.

Haye vs Harrison – Mega-match or Mis-match?

In the right place at the right time – there could not be a more apt description for the position that Olympic gold medallist and current European Heavyweight Champion, Audley 'A-Force' Harrison (27-4), currently finds himself in. Harrison looks set to get the world title shot he always said he would in a proposed bout against David 'Hayemaker' Haye (24-1) and I find myself both delighted and disgusted by the prospect in almost equal measure.

Let's start with the positives. Whether I, or any other boxing writer/fan, thinks Audley deserves this chance, it can't be disputed that (if it happens) this will be a massive British boxing event and will bring much needed publicity to the sport in the mainstream press. Haye and Harrison have some history going back to their amateur days and stories are already abound about what happened in past sparring sessions (with the consensus being that big Audley got his arse handed to him – no surprise there). They are both London boys, both have big profiles (Audley as Olympic champ and Haye as world champ) and both are not backwards in coming forwards with pearls of wisdom that inevitably get picked up by the tabloids. Insults (most likely from Haye) and hollow promises (most likely from Audley) are bound to fly if the fight does get signed. All of this is great stuff for the British fight game that has been quietly slipping out of the mainstream for some time now. 

This fight will be the biggest all-British heavyweight bout in nearly two decades, since Lennox Lewis fought Frank Bruno in Cardiff, and will undoubtedly sell out one of the big London arenas (most likely the O2). Lots of boxing people, as well as a few unscrupulous others, will make a lot of cash and if you are a big enough boxing fan to be reading this page then don't pretend you won't be tempted to put your hand in your pocket, either to buy a ticket or pay for it on TV.

As well as this potential match-up being a money-spinner and a headline grabber for British boxing, the other thing that goes in its favour is the question: with both the relentless robot boxing brothers from the Ukrainian seemingly already otherwise engaged, who else is there for Haye to fight? He could start knocking over the numerous faceless 'American hopes' that the Kiltchkos have already feasted on, but lets face it, that is not going to do Haye any real favours or make him any money ('Fast' Eddie? – and I didn't think the Americans did irony). The Hayemaker could fight a few Eastern Europeans, but are Sky really going to put that on pay-per-view? And if they do, will anyone buy it?

So far so good for the self-christened A-Force and his potential match-up with Haye. It explains my half-hearted delight at the prospect, so why do I also feel a sense of disgust that this fight might happen? The answer is both simple and obvious; Audley Harrison has done nothing to warrant a world title shot, against either Haye or anyone else.

Yes, Audley is a European champion but he won the vacant belt against a fighter (with all due to respect to Michael Sprott) who is a glorified contender with more than a dozen losses on his record... and Sprott had KO'd Harrison previously... and Sprott was comfortably winning the rematch until getting caught in the last round! Harrison has made no defences of the vacant title he picked up, so he has not even proved himself a good European champion, let alone a worthy world title challenger.

Yes, Audley won Prizefighter, but who did he fight? Prizefighter is a great concept and great entertainment but it is a showcase for inexperienced fighters looking to make their name and old stagers to have one last night of glory – a world title eliminator it ain't. I hear no calls for Patrick 'Tiger' Mendy to step in with Andre Ward or Lucian Bute. No one wants to see Martin Rogan vs Vitali Klitschko. So how does beating Coleman Barrett (nope, me neither) qualify Harrison to fight David Haye?

Yes, Audley won an Olympic gold, but that was 10 long years ago. Since that glorious moment of triumph in Sydney, Harrison turned pro and fought a string of nobodies for big money before succumbing to the combined 'might' of Danny Williams, Michael Sprott, Dominic Guinn and Martin Rogan. Audley has failed to fight, let alone beat, a genuine top 10 heavyweight, so does he deserve a world title shot? As our American friends would say 'you do the math'.

However, taking everything into account and putting aside my personal misgivings (and just about everyone else's) about Harrisons worthiness for a title shot, I feel that in the absence of Haye fighting the Klitchskos anytime soon a match between the two Brits would be a good thing for boxing in Britain. So in this case I will be delighted to be disgusted watching the immovable Hayemaker facing the irresistible A-Force.

Let the mega-mismatch commence.

Cheers,
The Brain

p.s. Haye will win in 3 rounds.

Thanks for reading and please post your comments regarding this article or email them to boxingcleverpodcast@gmail.com

The 12th episode of boxing clever was due out in the past week but due to some technical problems (our complete lack of computer skills leading to us 'corrupt' the file) we are unable to get it online.

We will be recording a new episode this weekend (11 July) and it should be ready to download by the start of next week. Apologies for the delay in getting this online, but you can look forward to our half year review and our look at what might happen in the next six months, as well as the usual incoherent waffle from reidy and the brain.

Also look out for the first 'Thoughts from the brain' column, to be posted this week on www.boxingclever.libsyn.com

 

A new weekly column from Boxing Clever's Martin 'The Brain' Potter in which I give my opinions on the big boxing talking points, fights and fighters (past and present).