Enter 2000 Olympic gold medalist Audley Harrison ... undefeated at 11-0 with seven via the KO route ... an unblemished resumé ... but one carrying a blinking caution light showing his age at 31 - regardless, it was Audley that drew the curiosity seekers among the paying clientele.
Intended target for the nite was Quinn Navarre ... announced won-lost at 30-10-1, 19 KOs ... enuf said - results already old news with Audley closing show at 32 seconds mark of stanza three.
Didn't take long to see the good things ... opening candle shows the basics ... good movement with snapping jab ... the big southpaw also caught the eye while mixing the attack going to body & head.
Second candle saw Audley free of opening nite jitters ... confident and relaxed in style - and seeing Navarre going the survival route we get a bit of Harrison hot-dogging.
Not nice.
Finally, round three and the ol' one-two from the southpaw stance ... jab-bam ... and make no mistake about it, the big left hand was major league as it gets ... on and thru the target.
But the jury remains sequestered ... potential is wrapped in very neat package of size, technique, and clearly big punching power ... unanswered is them championship level intangibles of chin and heart factors.
Hunch here is the rest of the story won't be long in coming ... once the ESPN triple is finis, batten down the hatches ... for surely the HBO/Showtime gang will be knockin' at the door.
Main event saw Andre Purlette going to 37-2, 34 KOs with second round TKO over Lionel Butler of 31-14-1, 25 KOs infamy ... end came at 1:57 mark via the 3-knockdown rule - rule implemented some three decades back to take decision making from growing numbers of incompetent hacks disguised as referees.
Post Script: Just a thought ... maybe this win could be Purlette qualifier among candidates for Harrison's next outing.
Semper fi,
GEL
The ESPN Tuesday Nite road show caught itself a break last noche ... and what bailed out this latest off-B'way fistic production was a visitor from across the channel ... as in English Channel.
9-09-2003