Hide given opportunity to resurrect career

If Herbie Hide can overcome his latest fear and get his head inside a brain scan machine he will be part of Audley Harrison's undercard at the Olympia in Liverpool on 14 July.

Hide, 29, has signed a three-fight deal with Harrison's promoter Jess Harding and he could end his two-year absence from the ring and fight next week but he is reluctant to undergo a standard British Boxing Board of Control MRI scan because of claustrophobia.

In the past Hide has had several highly publicised problems on both sides of the ropes and claustrophobia is just the latest in a long list. However, Harding is confident that he can persuade Hide to take the test.

"This is the chance I have been waiting for and I know I can win the British title in two or three fights," said Hide who first won the British heavyweight championship in 1993.

Hide has not fought in over two years since he froze during the third defence of his second reign as World Boxing Organisation champion, and was left in a heap on the canvas by Ukraine's Vitaly Klitschko. After the defeat Hide's younger brother Alan died of leukemia and then a destructive free fall started which looked like it would end his career.

Harrison was once the recipient of a beating from Hide during a sparring session when Harrison was an amateur and Hide was the WBO champion. Harrison remembers Hide being "fast" but in private he accused him of being a bully, which is something that others in the fight game had said.

Harrison's second fight against Kettering's Derek McCafferty will be live on the BBC and Hide, who has lost just twice in 33-fights, is also likely to be part of the televised show.