by James Slater: In news that is guaranteed to displease all of the fighters who were to box on the bill, next Saturday’s Sports Network boxing card in Birmingham has been postponed due to what the official press release calls “Television scheduling problems..”
The card was to have featured heavyweight Olympic gold medallist Audley “A-Force” Harrison taking on tough Irishman Martin Rogan, along with the returns of the recently defeated Enzo Maccarinelli and Gavin Rees. So far no further information has been given by Sports Network, but they do say the card will be re-scheduled as soon as possible. Any fans who have bought tickets for the show will be entitled to a refund.
It is always depressing news when a big fight gets cancelled. And the Harrison-Rogan clash, while not exactly being a huge, huge fight, was a very interesting and likely eventful fight. Now the fans will have to wait a while longer to see how it plays out. And Audley Harrison, a fighter who has seen enough time wasted due to enforced layoffs, will have to wait until he gets the second fight in his comeback under way. More than likely it is former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli who will be most distraught at news of the card being off for the time being.
Maccarinelli, who was blown away by David Haye in just two rounds back in March, has been massively anxious to get himself back in the ring ever since. Disgusted by his own performance, Maccarinelli wanted to get back as soon as possible in a bid to prove to himself and others he is a far better fighter than he appeared to be against Haye. Now he too will have to twiddle his thumbs whilst waiting for the new date. It had not actually been announced yet who Enzo would have been facing next Saturday, but regardless of the opponent Maccarinelli was anxious to get a new W on his record and restore some of the self confidence he undoubtedly lost back in March.
So far there has been no comment made by any of the boxers who were to have fought on July 19th, but it’s safe to say they will all be somewhat miffed by the news. Things happen and cannot be helped, but at the same time the explanation of the card being off simply due to T.V scheduling problems is hardly indicative of professionalism on the part of the promoters. After all, the bill was first announced quite some time back.