Brain damaged and bankrupt is no way for any Olympic champion to end up.

Whatever we think of Audley Harrison now there can be only be sympathy for the man who promised so much but delivered so little in his 13-year professional career.

The southpaw super-heavyweight champion from Sydney 2000 claims he is suffering from vision balance problems, moodiness and irritability and that his decision to quit at the ripe old fighting age of 43 has prompted research into concussion and brain injuries, and after consulting medical specialists he has decided to call it a day.

Well, there are those among us who believe he needed his head examined to have carried on for as long as he did when it was apparent he was washed up, or even to have turned pro in the first place (though of course there were a million reasons why he did).

Seduced by the BBC's ridiculous £1 million ($1.5 million/€1.4 million) bung in exchange for his amateur headguard and vest, the self-promoting Harrison proceeded to raid Palookaville to hand-pick his own pushover opponents.

So much so it became apparent that the BBC's investment was a scandalous waste of licence payers' money which eventually led to them terminating their association with boxing.

Dear old Audley had the amateur game sussed. He worked the system perfectly, knowing how to score with the counter punches that caught the eyes of the judges and how to box on the back foot without taking risks.

But when it came to the rigours and hazards of the prize ring, he seemed to have neither the heart nor the flexibility to adapt. He gave the impression that while he liked boxing, he did not really like fighting for a living. He was never a warrior like Ricky Hatton or Amir Khan.

Audley Harrison stole Britains hearts with Olympic gold at Sydney 2000 but his career never quite progressed from there ©Getty Images



Six million people watched his debut in 2001 - a first round knockout of American tyro Mike Middleton - but his BBC contract was not renewed in 2004 after he had accumulated a record of 17 wins from as many contests.

Back in Sydney he talked such a good fight we called him Muhammad Audley. But it was not long before promoter Frank Warren memorably rechristened him Fraudley.

Not since the great Muhammad himself has a heavyweight indulged in such self-hype.

The son of a west London plasterer - one of a family of six - he was a double ABA champion, winning the Commonwealth Games final spectacularly in 63 seconds, after a total of just 15 minutes of boxing.

He then stabbed and jabbed his way to becoming Britain's first-ever super-heavyweight champ and the first Briton to win Olympic boxing gold since middleweight Chris Finnegan in 1968. "I am going to be the greatest heavyweight ever to come out of Britain," he declared at the time.

Well, he did manage to win a European title and the Prizefighter tournament but gradually the A-Force became C list, creating a better small screen impression in the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom and the I'm A Celebrity jungle than he did in the ring.

With seven losses in his 38-fight career he became the Eddie the Eagle of boxing, finally crash landing at Sheffield's Motorpoint Arena two years ago when he was bombed out in 70 seconds by big-hitting Deontay Wilder, the fearsome heavyweight who is now the WBC champion.

Audley Harrison's career was effectively over even before he was knocked out by Deontay Wilder inside the first round back in 2013 ©Getty Images



Thus those 13 years of hurt -for the fans as well as himself - concluded with him being caught by the first punch the 6ft 7in Wilder threw and Harrison said he would call it quits before changing his mind, vainly insisting he could still win the world title.

Against Olympic bronze medallist David Price six months earlier he had lasted just 12 seconds longer.

Now, following repeated threats of a comeback - targeting the current Olympic champion Anthony Joshua in what surely would have been another painful mismatch - he says: "After years of denial and sticking to my guns, I'm finally getting out of my own way.

"I've suffered a few traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and will have to work hard to reverse some of the effects taking punches to the head has brought about to my overall health.

"I have vision problems, vestibular injuries that lead to balance disturbances, and have bouts of serious irritability and moodiness that come with TBI recovery."

Harrison, known to be a frequent poker player at the tables in Las Vegas, also admits he has been wayward with his earnings and could face bankruptcy in the UK because of huge tax demands.

The now 43-year-old Londoner has admitted his health has deteriorated during his career and he says he may also have to file for bankruptcy ©Getty Images



"I've made many mistakes and learned some tough lessons along the way. I made tons of money and splurged lots of it away with reckless money management, immaturity and a desire to build my empire like Tony Montana," he said.

"Thankfully, my wife started a hair salon business and threw chunks of money into real estate, but I'm still likely have to file for bankruptcy in the UK. I also invested in a pension while living in the UK, so that will be good when I'm much older.

"Without my boxing income, I will not be able to pay the huge tax bill I get each year to satisfy the film partnership I invested into in 2004, and encashed my investment by 2009. The hefty tax bill does not finish until 2022."

We've all done our share of Audley bashing, me included. No British boxer has been more mocked or vilified.

But to his credit he remained affable and approachable and more than willing to talk, which he did volubly and at length.

If only Harrison bashed opponents' noses as fiercely as he did our ears he would have been world champion and not a lampooned contender who threw only one half-hearted punch before being splattered by David Haye in his one world title fight.

Moreover, there have been no out-of-the-ring scandals during his career. No drugs, no boozing, no womanising. He remains deeply religious and committed to family life in Los Angeles with his wife Raychel and two children.

A particular low point of Audley Harrison's career came when he threw just one half-hearted punch during his defeat to David Haye (left) in 2011 ©Getty Images



Harrison now plans to start an agency to ensure boxers are given the financial advice he appears to have missed out on. He also intends to take out a trainer's licence in California in a bid to develop a future champion.

He says: "If I'm to achieve my goal of becoming a world champion it will now have to be as a trainer and manager to a bright young star, who will hopefully learn from my mistakes, rather than learning from his or her own."

Fighting his way up from a corrective institution he acquired a university degree (BSc with distinction) and an MBE and leaves us with this poignant requiem for a heavyweight: "There are only so many times you can fall before it becomes foolhardy to continue."

If only he had boxed this clever sooner.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire