AudleyHarrison.com - The Official Website


Date Of Birth Birthplace Height Weight Reach Pro Professional Record Longest Win Streak Longest KO Streak Av. Rounds per Fight 1st Round KO's Amateur Amateur Record Longest Win Streak Longest KO Streak Av. Rounds per Fight 1st Round KO's	26th October 1971 London, England 6' 5½" 18st 83cm 21 - 3 19 5 5 2 46 - 8 15 6 3 10

Fights Won: 21

Fights Lost : 3

Knockouts: 16

Biography.

It was during the boxing super heavyweight finals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney that the nation stayed up until the early hours of the morning to watch Audley Harrison punch his way to a remarkable gold medal victory, becoming the first British heavyweight in 32 years to top the boxing podium.

Growing up on the Stonebridge Estate in Harlesden, a tough inner-city neighbourhood in north-west London, Harrison—although always good natured and a free spirit—spent part of his teens years hanging out with troublemakers, who spent the day committing petty crimes and misdemeanours. It wasn’t until he landed in the Feltham Young Offenders Institute that Harrison decided to make what would become the first of many brilliant decisions for his life’s future.

Just over ten years later he is an Olympic and Commonwealth gold medallist, a college graduate with a Bachelor of Science (Hons), a Member of the Order of the British Empire, a champion for the rights of amateur boxers and a generous donator to charity. Audley Harrison turned his life around quite impressively and he owes a great deal of it to boxing.

Although Harrison started his amateur career later than most—he was 19 in 1991 when his older brother Rodney, a club boxer, introduced him to the ring—he was a quick learner with natural raw talent from the start. He found the best boxing facilities and amateur coaches England had to offer, joined the Northolt boxing gym and started his career. After two years of club shows and his reputation as a tough competitor growing, Harrison found it harder to find fights among club-level amateurs. Having no other choice, he joined the Amateur Boxing Association Circuit (ABA), an unusual move for a fighter with only six amateur bouts. He was thrust in to competition with some of England’s top amateur fighters. He blossomed as a fighter in the 1995 season and won his first national title in 1997. He was again victorious at the 1998 Commonwealth Games before his history making Olympic feat. He achieved top-level success and became a learned student of the sweet science.

It was during these years that Harrison also pursued an academic degree. After gaining college credit at the College of North East London, he was accepted in to Brunel University in Isleworth, Middlesex in 1994 earning a degree in Sports Studies and Leisure Management. Part of his requirements was a ten thousand-word thesis which he wrote on ‘A Sociological Perspective on the Justification of Amateur Boxing.’

Upon returning with the gold medal that instantly put him in an elite group of other great heavyweight Olympic champions like Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, and Lennox Lewis, Harrison returned to London and became a household name. After receiving MBE honours from the Queen, Harrison turned professional on May 19, 2001 with a first round demolition of Florida brawler Mike Middleton.

His boxing education has been meticulous; each opponent has brought something new to the table. Harrison has dealt with technical boxers, aggressive sluggers, hungry prospects, wily veterans, powerful giants and speedy smaller men. Also, each fight has given Harrison a different experience. Derek McCafferty gave Harrison his first win via a decision, Mark Krence offered the first unbeaten record that Harrison had faced and Rob Calloway brought a wealth of experience to the ring. Shawn Robinson gave Harrison his US debut, Richel Hersisia gave him his first taste of championship boxing when Harrison destroyed the WBF Champion inside four rounds and cagey veteran Julius Francis provided him with his first 12 round fight.

Despite always planning to move to America, the politics of boxing in Britain forced Harrison to move away earlier than expected. The opportunities in America as well as the US television exposure are far greater than in Britain. The start of 2005 saw Harrison move to Las Vegas and embark on the next stage of his career. Having injured a knuckle in late 2004, Harrison returned to the ring in June 2005 with two fights televised nationally in the States, helping to raise his profile.

He has twice headlined “The Best Damn Sports Show Period” live on the Fox Sports Network across America. The first of this was his comeback from injury against American Robert Davis who had previously taken both Michael Moorer and Monte Barrett the full distance. Despite this being his first fight in almost a year, Harrison destroyed Davis in round seven with a barrage of unanswered punches, scoring another impressive KO to add to his record.

Harrison followed with an even more impressive performance against tough American Robert Wiggins in August 2005. Again this fight was screened live on Fox Sports Network and again it was ended by a fierce combination of punches from Harrison. Wiggins had taken heavyweight contender DaVarryl Williamson the 10 round distance and had only just lost a split decision to another heavyweight contender, Monte Barrett. So for Harrison to force the first legitimate stoppage of Wiggins’ career at the end of the fourth round, only enhanced the view that he is developing into one of the finest finishers in heavyweight boxing.

Further evidence of this was during Harrison's most impressive professional performance to date destroying former world title challenger Danny Williams in only round three of their rematch. Devastating upper cuts along with strong and fast jabbing with great work on the inside enabled Harrison to record his 16th KO and most scintillating performance of his professional career.

Current Fight Record (21-3-0, 16KOs)

Fight 24: 17 Feb 2007 Michael Sprott L TKO 3 London
Fight 23: 09 Dec 2006 Danny Williams W TKO 3 London
Fight 22: 09 Jun 2006 Andrew Greeley W KO 3 Atlantic City, USA
Fight 21: 14 Apr 2006 Dominic Guinn L UD 10 Rancho Mirage, USA
Fight 20: 10 Dec 2005 Danny Williams L SD 12 London
Fight 19: 18 Aug 2005 Robert Wiggins W TKO 4 San Jose, USA
Fight 18: 09 June 2005 Robert Davis W TKO 7 Temecula, USA
Fight 17: 19 June 2004 Tomasz Bonin W TKO 9 London (WBF)
Fight 16: 08 May 2004 Julius Francis W PTS 12 Bristol (WBF)
Fight 15: 20 Mar 2004 Richel Hersisia W KO 4 Wembley Arena (WBF)
Fight 14: 12 Dec 2003 Brian Nix W TKO 3 Laughlin, USA
Fight 13: 03 Oct 2003 Lisandro Diaz W TKO 4 Las Vegas, USA
Fight 12: 09 Sep 2003 Quinn Navarre W KO 3 Miami
Fight 11: 31 May 2003 Mathew Ellis W TKO 2 London
Fight 10: 29 Mar 2003 Ratko Draskovic W PTS 8 London
Fight 9: 08 Feb 2003 Rob Calloway W TKO 4 London
Fight 8: 23 Nov 2002 Shawn Robinson W TKO 1 Atlantic City, USA
Fight 7: 05 Oct 2002 Wade Lewis W TKO 2 Liverpool
Fight 6: 10 Jul 2002 Dominic Negus W PTS 6 London
Fight 5: 21 May 2002 Mark Krence W PTS 6 London
Fight 4: 20 Apr 2002 Julius Long W TKO 2 London
Fight 3: 20 Oct 2001 Piotr Jurczyk W TKO 2 Glasgow
Fight 2: 22 Sep 2001 Derek McCafferty W PTS 6 Newcastle
Fight 1: 19 May 2001 Mike Middleton w TKO 1 London

Please follow this link for further information on Audley's fight record.

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AWAY FROM BOXING: Charities Audley is involved with.

BRAIN SPINE FOUNDATION:
The work carried out by this foundation is particularly close to Audley’s heart and throughout his career to date, he has been a keen supporter of the charity. 2005 will see Audley as the honorary team captain for the Brain Spine Foundation Flora London Marathon team in April. Audley has also represented the foundation at the recent Sports Journalist Awards where he joined Michael Watson in helping to draw tickets for a raffle with proceeds going to the organisation. Audley was also at the event to accept a cheque on behalf of the foundation.

For more information, please see www.brainandspine.org.uk

NORTHWOOD YOUTH CLUB:
January 2005 saw Audley become a patron of the Northwood Youth Club. This is a club attended by Audley in his younger days and following a request from Tony Horan (Club Manager), Audley was delighted to accept the offer of becoming a patron. Audley recently visited the club on one of their busiest nights (see photos in the gallery) and met with Tony and some of the children attending the club. He had a few games of table tennis, several games of pool and emerged unbeaten! He was also presented with a photograph from his days at the club as well as speaking with many of the club members recounting his childhood experiences. This is another charity close to Audley and one that he is delighted to be associated with.

For more information, please contact Tony Horan (Club Manager), Email: Northwood@btconnect.com, Tel: 01923 824269, Address: 54 Hallowell Road, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 1DS.

NIEMANN-PICK DISEASE GROUP (UK):
Audley has also recently become a patron for this charity. Audley was written to asking if he would accept an invitation to become a patron for the Niemann-Pick Disease Group and to help boost the profile of the charity. He was delighted to add his support to an exceptionally worthwhile cause.

For more information, please see http://www.niemannpick.org.uk/.

JAMAICA HOSPITAL LEAGUE OF FRIENDS (JHLOF):
Audley is also a patron for this much needed UK based charity. The charity specialises in sending necessary hospital equipment to various different hospitals in Jamaica. This ranges from vital medical supplies to essential equipment such as beds and orthopedic equipment and much more. The main aim is to help improve the standard of healthcare in Jamaica as currently, it does not adequately cater for it's community. Audley is delighted to be a patron for this organisation and supports their activities in any way that he can.

For more information, please see http://www.jhlof.fsnet.co.uk/

CRISIS:
Crisis is the charity aimed at helping homeless people in as many ways as possible. In December 2004, Audley volunteered to help out at the annual Crisis Open Christmas. With over 1,000 homeless people visiting the Millenium Dome (the venue for Open Christmas 2004), Audley spent time on Christmas Eve speaking to many of the people using the services offered by the Crisis team as well as talking to many of the 4,500 volunteers who helped ensure that a whole range of necessary services were provided for the homeless. Open Christmas is somewhere that homeless people can get support all under one roof. The services range from seeing a doctor or a dentist to getting housing advice or participating in an IT workshop.

Audley has also lent his powerful support to the Crisis Square Mile run for 2005. This is the largest fundraising event in the Crisis calender and Audley is delighted to help.

Further information on the exceptional work carried out by Crisis can be found at www.crisis.org.uk.

For more information specifically on the Crisis Square Mile run, please see http://www.audleyharrison.com/boxingnews/detail.asp?id=154&p=1