Haye not out of woods

Immediately after Saturday's one-sided fight was stopped in the third Haye claimed at ringside that he and his family had bet on his prediction - a boast he retracted when talking to BBC Radio Five on Monday.

The British Boxing Board of Control. which also confirmed on Monday that they were considering withholding part of Harrison's estimated £1 million purse, said they would meet to discuss Haye's comments.

"He has come out and denied what he said and I accept he said that but we will have a board meeting and discuss what we are going to do but we will take our time," BBBC general secretary Robert Smith said.

"We have a strict regulation that doesn't allow betting. He said something on Saturday and has thought better of it and we are making enquiries with regard to things we are doing with the gambling commission but nothing untoward has been reported to anybody at the moment.

"We are fairly happy that he didn't do anything but we will discuss it in two weeks' time."

While stopping well short of accusing Harrison of not trying, Smith said the former Olympic champion's performance in which he threw just one punch had been "a sickener".

More than 20,000 fans crammed into Manchester's MEN Arena for the much-hyped fight between the two British heavyweights while millions more watched it on pay-per-view.

After being booed out of the ring, the 39-year-old Harrison now faces an anxious few weeks before learning whether he will receive his full pay packet for his feeble showing.

"We have the power to do (withhold his purse)," Smith said.

"I've had a discussion with the chairman (Charles Giles) and ultimately we can in certain circumstances retain a percentage of a boxer's purse.

"We will not rush into it though. We will let the dust settle first and discuss the way forward at our meeting in December.

"Ultimately you have to say that Audley just froze. It was a tremendous disappointment and a huge let down. Let's get real, it was a sickener.

"It was clear that he was hurt and I suppose the only thing you can say is that he got up after the initial punches landed by Haye because if he had not got up I would have been very annoyed. He did try, but he just froze."

Asked if it had portrayed British boxing in a poor light, Smith said he had no regrets at sanctioning the fight.

"It was a sporting contest and even FA Cup finals where you have the two best teams in the land can be drab affairs," he said. "I'm not saying Audley is the best heavyweight around but he was an Olympic champion. He just froze, and that's sport."