I was recovering from my ‘worst injury ever’ when Floyd Mayweather announced we were fighting and made me look like an ‘idiot’

Liam Harrison has revealed all about his ill-fated fight with Floyd Mayweather.

In 2023, the kickboxing legend was briefly linked to a boxing match with Mayweather before bowing out and being replaced by Geordie Shore star Aaron Chalmers.

“Hitman,” who has 91 wins and 50 knockouts in his own discipline, was recovering from the worst injury of his career when he got the call to face one of boxing’s biggest stars.

“I was waiting for surgery on my ACL and my MCL,” Harrison told talkSPORT MMA.

“All I was doing at the time was just trying to build my quads, my glutes and my hamstrings because I knew how hard the rehab was going to be.

“I was doing a bit of boxing and then all of a sudden I got this call saying, ‘Floyd Mayweather is coming to England to fight, do you want to fight him?’ He has put you on a shortlist, he is going to choose from three people and you are one of them.

“The next day, I’m on the phone with Floyd Mayweather’s manager and I’m like, ‘This is crazy!’ »

Despite his injury, Harrison didn’t immediately turn down the opportunity as he headed to the gym to see if he would be able to get through the fight without seriously injuring himself or embarrassing himself.

He added: “I can’t even stand up properly.

“So I taped my knee as best I could and went to the gym and did some pads. Everything was fine, and I thought it should be fine here since there’s no kicking or much pivoting.

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“Two days later I started training, some more pads and training before I took my strap off and my knee was like an absolute balloon. I couldn’t walk for two or three days.

Harrison ultimately decided he could not continue fighting after a doctor told him it could leave him with a lifelong limp and require another major surgery.

The 38-year-old reluctantly turned down the opportunity to fight Mayweather, but the message was hidden by his team, who announced the crossover fight anyway.

Harrison continued: “I had one leg. And the thing is, I wouldn’t put a glove on this guy with two good legs. So if I had gone in there with just one leg, I would have completely embarrassed myself.

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“Unfortunately I had to say no. I told his management team, ‘Look, I’m not going to be able to do this, I need knee surgery.’ They just ignored me and then went to announce the fight.

“I woke up the next morning, I had hundreds of messages on my phone. I thought someone must have died here, they probably did. I used my phone and I was like, “What is going on here? What did he do here?

“I’m going to look like an idiot now.”

Harrison was forced to withdraw from the fight the same day it was announced to the public.

The 119-fight veteran had hoped to revisit his rivalry with Mayweather, but after seeing his first visit to the UK for a fight with Chalmers fall through, he is not holding his breath.

Harrison concluded: “I went into battle and talked to all the powers that be. They said: “If he comes back, you will be on the front line. »

“It was a bit of a circus with this show, so I don’t know if it will come back. But if he does, they said I’ll be first, so let’s see.