Olympic champion Harrison ready to cash first pay cheque

Alan Baldwin

Olympic super-heavyweight gold medallist Audley Harrison makes his professional debut on Saturday against a journeyman fighter who aims to embarrass the Briton by staying on his feet.

The night may be long, but 33-year-old American Mike Middleton's appearance in the ring at London's Wembley Arena is expected to be short and not very sweet.

Anything other than a brief encounter, in what is only a six round fight, will be a serious setback for Harrison as he steps out of a storm of hype and seeks to show that he is more of a Lennox Lewis than a Frank Bruno.

The 29-year-old, who struck gold at the Sydney Olympics, needs to put an easy first win under his belt to prevent the transition from amateur to paid hitman dissolving into farce.

His situation is, as his manager and former boxer Colin McMillan admits, fraught with dangers and difficulties.

"It's a no-win situation for Audley," he said this week.

"If he knocks out Middleton easily, people will say it was a flagrant mismatch. If he takes five or six rounds to do the job and looks bad, they'll say he had trouble with a journeyman."

A journeyman with more defeats than wins and who makes more money from his job as a private investigator than from his fists.

There are plenty of people ready and waiting to snipe at Harrison, a man they consider to be over-confident and lacking the visceral aggression of a born heavyweight.

Harrison was a slow-burner in Sydney, scraping through his initial fight before picking up as he progressed somewhat surprisingly through the tournament.

But, with television backers eager to groom him as Britain's next big hope after former heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis, Harrison has never doubted his destiny.

GULF WARRIOR
The fight, that could be all over before some of the audience have taken their seats, will be shown live on Britain's BBC television from an arena that can hold 8,000 spectators.

What Middleton may lack in ring craft, he certainly makes up with his ability to grab a headline.

Beaten nine times in an 18-fight career, the American has entertained British newspaper readers with tales of his colourful career to date.

A Gulf War veteran, Middleton may not have iron fists but he says he still has shrapnel in his neck.

Harrison represents his biggest pay day -- reportedly around 3,500 pounds ($5,000) -- for stepping into the ring with the Briton, although even that lowly sum is being contested.

"He's a household name in this country," said Middleton of his opponent. "I'm not even a household name in my own house."

Nobody would argue with that.

"When Harrison's promoter, Jess Harding, told us he 'pushed the boat out' to secure the services of Mike Middleton, we must assume he had gone trawling in the Dead Sea," wrote Kevin Mitchell in the Observer Sunday newspaper.

"Michael Middleton arrives with little to shout about -- except 'Help!'," declared Frank Keating in the Guardian.

Middleton's nickname is "The Jinx" and he has at least made every effort to talk a good fight over the past week or two.

"An embarrassing mismatch? give me a break," he says. "How can a guy who has never boxed a round in the pros be a great fighter?"