Boxing: Harrison shapes up in pursuit of his American ambition

On the boardwalk here they are getting ready for a fight and yesterday morning, when the obese gulls were still picking at the debris from the night before, Audley Harrison and his now tiny retinue went for a slow run along the dilapidated seafront.

The fight that the fans and the executives in this weary casino resort are preparing for is Saturday's rematch between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, and Harrison's early evening American professional debut against Shawn Robinson could go unnoticed by most of the 12,000 crowd. However, a few people who count will be watching and, in many ways, this is the most important fight so far in Harrison's turbulent career because he has to impress to keep the Americans interested before he steps up in class next year.

Harrison, 31, arrived late on Tuesday night after spending two weeks sparring at Barry's gym in Las Vegas under the constant and watchful eye of both Kenny Croom and Thel Torrence, the two trainers who so far have not yet been criticised for Harrison's performances. "Audley is a different type of heavyweight. It takes time to understand the way he does things," said Croom after yesterday's light run.

According to Croom, the days in the Vegas gym only reinforced the thoughts and feelings that he shares with Torrence about Harrison's potential. Harrison sparred nearly 70 rounds with two partners during two intensive weeks and yesterday as he chased the slower of the ambling gulls on the rattling boards he looked a lot slimmer than he has done in the past.

Harrison's seven victories so far have received mixed reviews and it is a fact that both the viewing figures on the BBC and the live gates have dropped off but, not surprisingly, everybody involved with the Olympic champion insists that all is going to plan. Both Croom and Torrence have tried to ignore all of the criticism and have quietly persevered with a strategy that they put together early last year when Harrison first started to work with them.

"Audley will change the way heavyweights fight. He is changing the way he fights and a lot of fighters are going to struggle to adapt when they meet him," added Croom. "He is a clever guy and that helps in the gym and in the ring."

Harrison went off to New York yesterday afternoon for a series of publicity meetings, but he arrived back here last night with Gatti and Ward for the final two days of hype and promotion. It is the first time that he has not been the promoter, matchmaker, main event and paymaster and it shows. He looked more relaxed yesterday than normal when, in theory, Robinson is the best opponent he has met.

However, he has, it has to be said, mixed in some deplorable company, but that is the reality of the business and he would have fought the same bums had he turned professional with any of the sport's other promoters. The only difference is that the fights would not have been live on the BBC and, in all fairness, Harrison has never tried to shift the blame. "The buck stops with me. I'm not blaming anyone else," he said a long time ago and so far he has not pointed the finger at anybody.

It is to be hoped that the main event here will just be a brutal brawl because when Ward and Gatti first met back in May many seasoned experts called it the best fight they had ever seen. It was a savage, often senseless fight, but that is what sells in the American market place, where the brilliance of Roy Jones or Floyd Mayweather is often neglected in favour of blue-collar heroes like Ward and Gatti.

Both Ward and Gatti have lost to fighters in the last few years, but those boxers could not get together to pack a telephone box even if they had a dozen of the baubles from boxing's closet round their waists. Ward and Gatti have not accepted the offers of virgin belts and will meet on Saturday night in a 10-round light-welterweight fight for the sport's unofficial title of "Most Entertaining Fighter".

Ward won the first meeting but decisions are only temporary and memories of the last fight, especially the ninth round, will never leave those fortunate enough to be in the crowd of 5,000 or watching on television. The pair agreed to a rematch an hour after the fight and before all the stitches were in. Both ended that fight with swellings that altered their faces and made them hard to recognise and that is why on Saturday night here and in every hotel on the boardwalk they are getting ready for a real fight.

Before the blood starts to flow Harrison will take care of Robinson and then the serious business of his career will start when he steps up in class for his return to Britain on 14 January.