Scott Harrison In Talks To Fight Michael Brodie

Michael Brodie's manager, Jack Trickett, has said that he is in talks with Frank Maloney for the Manchester boxer to fight Scott Harrison for his WBO Featherweight title.

"There have been offers before but this is the first time talks have been serious," Trickett told Secondsout.com. "This isn't about money, this is about Michael's way back after losing to Injin Chi. When he beats Harrison Mike is at the top of the division again so we're not looking at this as pay-day, I assure you. We're not far away from making a deal, either, but I need to sit down to iron out a few details that you can't do over the phone."

Money has come between Scott Harrison fighting the world's number one Featherweight, Juan Manuel Marquez, according to Maloney.

Harrison was offered the chance to fight Marquez in Las Vegas in May, but turned it down despite both the WBA and IBF versions of the Featherweight title on the table for the winner. Apparently, Scott was offered less money than he would normally get for defending his WBO belt. Instead, it now looks like Scott Harrison's last opponent, Victor Polo, will fight Marquez instead.

It could be argued that Scott should forersake a big payday now to reap even bigger rewards in the future if he beat Marquez. It's a risk that the Harrison camp no doubt considered, but decided against. For professional boxers, the fight game is about making a living as much as the glory, and Frank Maloney cannot be faulted for doing his job in ensuring his boxer is well rewarded for his efforts in the ring.

Similarly, the proposed fight with WBC Featherweight champion In Jin Chi has hit the rails - this time with Chi wanting more money. And talk of a clash between Harrison and Marco Antonio Barrera before the Summer seems to have come to nothing with the Baby Faced Assassin scheduled to face Mzonke Fana in April instead.

If Scott does face Michael Brodie it will probably be towards the end of May or in June to give the challenger the opportunity to have a warm up fight beforehand.

The 30 year old has fought just three times since the end of 2002, including two gruelling battles against In Jin Chi for the WBC title, with the first ending in a controversial draw and Chi stopping Brodie in the seventh when the pair met again last April.

There is another name in the frame - that of Gairy "Superman" St. Clair. The 30 year old Australia-based Guyanan stopped Shamir Reyes in the final round of their WBO Featherweight title eliminator last week and is now scheduled to face Scott Harrison before the end of July.

St.Clair has won 36 of 41 fights to date, mostly against low grade opposition, but interestingly enough fought both current WBO Lightweight champion Diego Corrales and current WBA Light Welterweight Champion Vivian Harris earlier in his career, losing to both on points.

Posted by scottish-boxing at February 28, 2005 08:47 AM