Rogan stuns Harrison

6 December 2008 – By Mark Doyle

Martin Rogan effectively ended Audley Harrisons career, while at the same time announcing himself as a major title contender, by outpointing the former Olympian 96-95 in a hard-fought heavyweight bout at Londons ExCeL Arena on Saturday night.

It was far from pretty and Rogan appeared to be in real trouble in the second round, during which he was on the receiving end of a number of big right hands from A-Force.

However, Rogan slowly began to wear Harrison down, though his cause was undoubtedly aided by his opponents characteristically cautious approach. Still, there was no doubting that Rogan landed the bigger shots throughout.

The inaugural Prizefighter champion connected with a massive left hook in the fourth and wobbled Harrison with a crunching uppercut in the eighth.

Harrison had complained beforehand that not only would he beat Rogan, he would do so in style. However, he seemed utterly unwilling to engage Rogan, who deservedly had his hand raised by referee Ian John-Lewis at the end of the tenth and final round.

Indeed, with a victory which has taken his professional record to 11-0, the Belfast native will now be hoping for a shot at a major title in the not too distant future.