Kickboxing veteran Liam Harrison has ruled out facing 5th division champion Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition fight at The O2 in London on February 25.
Mayweather, who turns 46 next month, recently announced that he will face Harrison in the main event of that card, and distributed the event’s official posters on social media.
“London February 25th is the official match. The first exhibition fight in the UK will take place at the O2 arena. Tickets will go on sale next week. Stay tuned,” said Mayweather.
However, Harrison, who is under contract with ONE Championship, denied the information, explaining that he was still recovering from an injury and would not be ready in time.
“Many of you must have seen the announcement this morning about the fight with Floyd Mayweather. It started with Mayweather’s team and I honestly thought I was going to be okay, I even needed knee surgery in a boxing match,” Harrison explained.
“As soon as the discussion started, I intensified my training, using hard sparring and pads, but my knees soon swelled up and I couldn’t walk. There is absolutely no movement and agility needed ”cannot be done.
“My surgeon has agreed that this is not possible and I am utterly heartbroken. This battle and everything that entailed would have changed my life. Furthermore, the contract regarding this has not been received or signed.
“Without the receipt of the contract and the review and approval of ONE, nothing was confirmed. Floyd is the greatest boxer of all time and I wanted to give myself a good account. Not just me. , for the Muay Thai community at large. I hope that when I recover, I can bring this fight to life.”
Harrison has a career record of 90-25-2 with 50 knockouts.
Mayweather retired in 2017 but has been in the ring several times in exhibition fights.