The curtain finally falls. . . . . . . . .

The curtain has finally fallen on the pantomime that has been the Audley Harrison show.

After landing just one punch in the 7 minutes 53 seconds that made up the highly anticipated fight with old foe David Haye the 'A-Force' went out courageously at least, finishing on his feet.

Never has and hope never again will an Olympic gold medalist make his way to the ring to fight for his first professional world crown to chants of 'who are ya?'. This is a simple a reflection of the disappointment the nation feels with regard to Harrison. Promising so much ten years ago and yet delivering so little.

He left the ring to chants of 'you're shit and you know you are' and although humorous at the time one cannot help but feel sorry for Audley who has become a victim of his own press and hype and the nations need for a replacement to Lennox Lewis.

Billed by Jimmy Lennon Jr. as 'the always dangerous' Audley Harrison he showed no signs of this danger and power we have all been led to believe he carries in the left hand of his.

There is no doubt in my mind that Harrison and his camp grossly under estimated David's boxing capabilities. The tactics that they intended to implement relied solely on the gung-ho style that we saw David use in his fight with Carl Thompson. The expectation clearly was to drag Haye in and pick him off with counter-punches.

Haye is not stupid and nor is Adam Booth. To expect the two of them to create a strategy that would play into the hands of the 'A-Force' camp is ludicrous, and they were made to pay.

The first two rounds of last nights contest were without doubt the most encouraging I, as a fan of David, have seen. His foot work was superb and his head and upper body movement are the quickest in the division today. His attributes in defence are reflected in the stats, Harrison landed one stiff jab to the head of 'The Hayemaker'. But rather than follow this up with a left hand he stepped away, keeping the champion at arms length.

Unfortunately it was the Harrison that we have seen for the past 10 years, a boxer who as a professional as shown no real signs of improvement. As soon as Haye went on the front foot the Harrison look of a deer in the headlights was apparent, dropping his hands and leading people to believe nothing had changed.

Now it is not for me to plot the reasons for the downfall of such a promising amateur fighter but it may simply be the case that 30 years of age is just too old to join the professional ranks. Like Haye is now perhaps you need to be the finished article. It is rare that a boxer will improve during his thirties, Wladimir Klitschko being the obvious exception.

In his programme notes Haye said that: "I'm going to prolong it for three or four rounds, make him miss, make him pay, and basically make it look so-one-sided that the result is never in doubt".

Sometimes peoples perception of the line between arrogance and self-confidence becomes clouded. Many have accused Haye of arrogance but the quote from the programme is just an example of the fact that Haye knows how good he is. He delivered exactly what he said he would. He demolished Audley Harrison.

As I left the arena in their drunken stupor people cried out for refunds. A reporter for BoxRec news branded last nights preceedings as the most disappointed night in British boxing. But seriously, what did these people expect? Rocky III, Balboa vs. Creed? This was never going to be a fight for the ages, hardly Benn vs. Eubank, much like Haye Maccarenelli ended up being rather a damp squib.

The fact of the matter is those outside the boxing fraternity grossly under estimate Haye's capabilities, just like Harrison's camp did, and his potential. Should fights with the Klitschko brothers happen come 2011 it will be Haye's opportunity to prove the many, many doubters, or ignorant boxing fans, just how good he believes he is. Barry McGuigan hit the nail on the head while in the Sky studio, David is improving with every fight at heavyweight. Therefore no reason exists why he cannot emulate Lennox Lewis and become the undisputed heavyweight champion, something Harrison was expected to do himself.

As for Harrison, in his post fight interview you can see that the sparkle that once could be found in his eyes has gone and with it perhaps his drive and his ability to pick himself off the floor after such a devastating loss, like so many times before.

Perhaps Harrison just does not have it in him, whether it be psychological weakness or inferior boxing ability, to become a world heavy weight champion. Whether it was destiny or delusion that led Audley to believe he would conquer the world is a question we cannot answer. . . . . . . .

'Best of Enemies' photos