Boxing: Harrison rolls on with ill-tempered win

Audley Harrison's career finally turned nasty last night when he won for the sixth time but had to come through a dirty brawl on points against Dominic Negus here.

After three relatively tame rounds that seemed to entertain the crowd of 1,500, the boxing contest turned into an ugly street fight in round four when first Harrison and then Negus blatantly broke two of boxing's sacred rules.

Negus had turned away from a left cross and, as his knees gave way, he fell on to the ropes and the referee started to count but Harrison, instead of going to a neutral corner, advanced and connected with a thudding left that infuriated both Negus and the crowd.

Negus immediately jumped up and rushed across the ring, throwing punches wildly and, before the referee, Ian John Lewis, could separate them Negus connected with a savage butt to the side of Harrison's face. The fight was out of control and the crowd were screaming. Inside the ring Harrison was complaining and Negus was also shouting and the poor referee was struggling to keep the two towering fighters at arms' length.

The fight was taking place about one mile from where Harrison went to school but the majority of the people in attendance were there for Negus and there was an ugly atmosphere when after about 30 seconds the fight continued. When it did start again the rhythm of the surprisingly dull encounter had changed forever, and the pair exchanged punches much to the crowd's delight.

When the bell finally did sound to end round four they each glared at each other before walking back to their corners. In rounds five and six they once again fought at a furious pace that was surely not part of Harrison's game plan, but last night the best-laid plans of the best tacticians were forgotten during the crazy 10 seconds of round four.

In the sixth and final round Negus, whose reputation as a bouncer and hard man from Essex preceded him, took some of Audley's best punches. In the final 30 seconds Harrison, whose Olympic success now seems so very long ago, looked like a contender.

"I always get a bit over the top when I fight and this was no exception, but he took a liberty when he threw that punch when I was on the ropes,'' said Negus, who still managed to end the fight smiling and laughing with people in the crowd.

Harrison was far more serious and insisted that this performance, just like his previous five, are all part of the same learning curve and for once he made sense because last night when he was angry for possibly the first time in his career he looked like a dangerous fighter.