Ellis was stopped in two rounds by Harrison |
Audley Harrison's beaten opponent Mathew Ellis has blamed the former Olympic champion for the melee that followed Saturday's fight at Bethnal Green. Harrison stopped Ellis in the second round after weathering a ferocious early storm from his Blackpool-born challenger.
On Monday, Ellis claimed he was hampered by a dislocated shoulder in the first round and wants a rematch.
But he also laid the blame squarely at Harrison's door for the brawl which broke out between Herbie Hide's entourage and members of Harrison's A-Force security team.
"When he [Harrison] grabbed the microphone - that's when it started," Ellis told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"He's won the fight - he should have done his interview and gone back to the changing room. He shouldn't have started asking the public about Herbie Hide and Frank Bruno."
Ellis claimed his injury, sustained after two minutes of round one, put paid to his chances of stopping Harrison's unbeaten run at 10 fights.
"The British public needs to know about the injury," said Ellis.
"I believe I won the first round, but when Harrison caught me with a good shot in round two, I was unable to fight back.
"You can't fight the Olympic gold medallist with one arm."
 We will make recommendations to limit the likelihood of a repeat of these events in the future |
The British Boxing Board of Control said on Monday that Hide and Harrison will be hauled in front of a tribunal in the next three weeks to explain their roles in the chaos at York Hall.
The board's general secretary Simon Block said: "We will draw conclusions and make recommendations to limit the likelihood of a repeat of these events in the future."
Any licence holder deemed to have been directly involved in the brawl could have their licence revoked.
Block added: "What happened was clearly unacceptable, but in my experience every time there is an incident in boxing of this sort it gets widely reported when in fact there are hundreds and hundreds of shows where nothing happens and they are not known about."
Meanwhile, Harrison's promoter Jess Harding issued a statement saying the A-Force Promotions company would assist with the BBBC's investigation.
The statement said: "Jess Harding in association with A-Force Promotions wish to express their extreme disappointment that television viewers and fans in attendance at York Hall had to witness the unnecessary aftermath which over-shadowed an impressive performance by Audley Harrison."
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Audley Harrison