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Audley Harrison began his comeback attempt with three solid victories to win the Prizefighter III Heavyweight tournament Friday, though all three wins were over unheralded competition. Danny Williams, the co-tourney favorite, was upset in the first round by Carl Baker.
Harrison beat tall but limited Scott Belshaw by a 2nd round TKO, then won a unanimous decision over big Danny Hughes to get to the final. Hughes had defeated Neil Perkins in a battle of undefeated but inexperienced heavyweights.
On the other side of the draw Danny Williams suffered a first-round loss to Carl Baker. As some observers had expected Williams started slow and was unable to make up lost ground though he had Baker in trouble in round three. The other quarterfinal match saw undefeated Coleman Barrett upset Scott Gammer; Barrett then beat Baker for his 10th win, and his second against a fighter ranked by SportsRatings.
Harrison, however, was too much for Barrett, who lost in a 2nd round TKO. Here is how the brackets resolved themselves:
Williams---|
|---Baker dec.---|
Baker------| |
|--Barrett dec.--|
Gammer-----| | |
|--Barrett dec.--| |
Barrett----| | Harrison TKO
|-------------------
Harrison---| |
|--Harrison TKO--| |
Belshaw----| | |
|--Harrison dec.-|
Hughes-----| |
|---Hughes dec.--|
Perkins----|
Barrett was the only non-ranked fighter who ended up part of the SportsRatings rankings system, while Williams, the only fighter in the October heavyweight top 100, will fall out of the top 100 while Harrison will rejoin the list. Here is how the prominent fighters' rankings will likely change as a result of Friday's action:
Fighter Prev rank Projected Rank
Danny Williams #42 #111
Audley Harrison #137 #55
Carl Baker #210 #146
Scott Gammer #236 #272
Coleman Barrett ---- #121
Baker, Barrett, and Harrison all move up quite a bit, while Williams and Gammer slide for their first-round defeats. The actual rankings will depend on what other action occurs in October, but Harrison will be the only fighter from the tourney in the top 100.
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