Floyd Mayweather Jr has made a competent return to the ring in Las Vegas, while on the other side of The Pond, Audley Harrison has thrown in the towel for good.
Last week, Britain’s Audley Harrison suffered an embarrassing first round knockout for the second time in a row when he was clobbered by unbeaten American contender Deontay Wilder. He has now announced his retirement, which is unquestionably the wisest decision he has ever made, but he received some surprising support from former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye who took him apart in three rounds in November 2010. Haye was speaking at a press conference in the run up to his next fight, against Manuel Charr on June 29.
In Las Vegas last night, Floyd Mayweather beat Robert Guerrero on points to extend his record to 44-0, though this does not take into account his knock out at the hands of his ex-girlfriend which saw him cooling his heels behind bars when he was sentenced to 90 days for battery.
It remains to be seen if she will forgive him, but boxing should - provided he never does anything like this again to anyone, female or male. The sport has seen far, far worse than this, but let’s not mention Mike Tyson.
Certainly Mayweather has learned some grace, and after his 117-111 victory (on all three judges’ cards) he and his opponent sang each others’ praises. What is next for Mayweather? The surprise knock out of Manny Pacquiao by Juan Manuel Márquez has scuppered his biggest payday, but the public may want to see the fight anyway.
[The above article was first published May 5, 2013; the original wasn’t archived. I can’t remember if the associated photograph was subimtted by me but it certainly wasn’t taken by me.]
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