Boxing: Harrison fails to reach an agreement with BBC

Audley Harrison and his advisers have failed to agree a long-term deal with the BBC but the Olympic champion will fight on the terrestrial channel at least one more time.

Harrison will have his 11th professional fight on 31 May when he meets Blackpool's Matt Ellis over eight rounds at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London. The BBC, which paid a reputed £1m to cover Harrison's first 10 professional outings, will screen the fight and are confident a new deal will be in place by then.

However, as part of a series of cost-cutting measures Harrison has parted with his manager, Colin McMillan, and Kenny Croom, one of his two American trainers. It is believed that the cutbacks are a direct result of the reduced fee on offer from the BBC. "There are still a lot of issues to be addressed with the BBC. I would have liked to have closed a long-term deal with them by now but the talks got bogged down," he said. "It is not about money because I would fight in America for peanuts.''

The negotiations between the BBC and Harrison first started over a month ago and it is thought that the BBC has insisted on more say about the quality of the boxer's opposition. Harrison and his promoter, Jess Harding, have been quick to remind the BBC that viewing figures for the boxer's fights have finally started to improve.

"If anybody at the BBC wants to be my matchmaker or my manager, then they should apply to the British Boxing Board of Control for a licence,'' said Harrison, who has not ruled out working with Sky's main promoter, Frank Warren, in the future.