Scott Harrison – Flawed Superhero or Villain? – Boxing News
By Donald C. Stewart
Heroes are hard to come by. I mean, let’s be honest, what are the chances that we will find ones to compare with the likes of Ali, Sugar Ray or “Hitman” Hearns? When you are a vast country like the United States, the likelihood is that somewhere and somehow you may find one. In a small country like Scotland, we have less opportunities – statistically speaking…
Fortunately though, the heroes of our past did not have the glare of the internet following them, the paparazzi on scooters chronicling their every moment on earth and the scrutiny of people like me on laptops commenting on very indiscretion. Our heroes were flawed but as long as we didn’t know about it we could smile and believe in ignorance.
In Scotland, as I have said before on RSR, we don’t do big fighters. We provide the wee guys that are real scrappers. In Scotland, a country that boasts the murder capital of Europe – Glasgow, we do hope that the aggression we value will happen in a boxing ring rather than spill out onto the streets and alleyways of our cities and towns. Then we have the statistics that tell us otherwise. Fights happen daily. And our heroes get caught up in it.
Scott Harrison 25-2-2, 14 KO’s, was once a hero figure to most of the Scottish fight fans. His fights were box office at least in the arenas and bars throughout the city of Glasgow. At the tail end of this month Harrison was due to restart his career in the ring after 6 years out. Promoter Frank Maloney had backed his client after he had come out of a Spanish Jail to put his career and his life back on line.
Harrison made all the right noises. He had a new fiancé, a new baby and new reasons for making amends for having behaved in a manner that had seen him arrested on more than one occasion and he ended up in a Spanish Jail. At the end of the sentence he quietly appeared to start training. We were believing. But Harrison is a flawed character.
Firstly, there was the issue of his license. After assurances given to the British Board of Boxing Control they eventually gave him it back. He had come out of a Spanish jail and spoken well. That was when he was tracked down. His head was down and he was training. The comeback was ON.
Next came his contract Frank Maloney, claimed it, and then Fran Warren said he was the one who held it. Maloney got a bout at the end of March in the seaside play ground of Blackpool. The city of Glasgow got ready for an early trek to Blackpool for their hero to return. The comeback had a start date!
The next issue was the drink. Harrison was a hard drinker and someone for whom alcohol had been a huge risk and aspect of his life that derailed him constantly. Time spent in rehab through the Priory in the past and the arrests he had suffered due to his behavior were blots on his landscape. But Harrison was sober and making the right noises. The comeback was on track.
Finally, there was the training. We thought hard training would be needed. The training had to be tougher than it had ever been to keep his mind and his body in shape for the come back. He was seen in the gym and he looked trim. The best he had been in his career is a cliché used by trainers time and again but Harrison looked the part. The comeback was assured…
Was it nothing? The demons with which Harrison had battled had come back and bitten the man like never before. The fact is that patience for his future may well have run out. His license is now seriously in doubt. Maloney has now washed his hands of him and Warren may well wish he should have been careful what he wished for. The date for his fight has been cancelled. Harrison is no longer sober and who cares how trim he looked?
What happened? In the early hours one morning Scott Harrison, drunk and at least one other male entered an all night supermarket, ransacked it and tried to leave whilst stealing more than a few items of food. Arrested and then bailed to appear later in court Harrison now will cut a very sorry figure. Once again.
Condemnation will reign down on his head but this is a fighter who won a world title with all the equipment in his fists and his feet whilst demons raged in his head. There may never be redemption for this man in a ring but where else will there be a chance for him to fight for his family, provide for his brood or be a contributing member of his society? Harrison spoke of his desire to be a World Champ again. This time round he may need to be World Champ of his head rather than in his head first. To that end he may not be the super hero we seek but should he now be the villain?
