After getting hurt during one of his training practices last year, British Muay Thai sensation Liam Harrison has yet to recover. The Muay Thai society as a whole was affected by his absence from the ring. In order to kick off the year and possibly return to world championship contention, he had originally planned on engaging in three significant matches.
Unfortunately, the delay for his comeback to action will be a little longer. Harrison described the timetable for his comeback in the MMA Superfaninterview:
“I might not be able to fight Muay Thai till back about the summer I don’t think. So maybe I could do it when my knee’s rehabbing or maybe in a year’s time.”
The UK fighter was approached by Floyd Mayweather’s management last month about engaging the retired boxing legend in an exhibition match at London’s O2 Arena. Mayweather prematurely announced their bout on social media even though Harrison hadn’t responded to them. To many people’s dismay, Harrison quickly dispelled the rumours, citing an injury as one of the reasons he was unable to accept the boxer’s invitation.
Liam Harrison acknowledges that despite having a knee injury, he attempted to battle Floyd Mayweather.
At ONE on Prime Video 1 in August 2022, Harrison fell to Nong-O Hama, the bantamweight Muay Thai world champion, and sustained the injury. He then scheduled his procedure for January 2023, a few weeks before Mayweather’s staff contacted him about the exhibition fight.
Harrison acknowledged that he made an effort to push through the pain and seize the opportunity:
“I booked the surgery for the 30th of January and then mid-January. I just got called up by Floyd Mayweather’s team saying, ‘Look, he wants to come to do an exhibition in London. He asked me about this, so I thought, ‘Wow, that this is an amazing opportunity,’ and so I asked the guys at ONE, ‘Can I get signed off?’ I said [to Mayweather’s team], ‘No, I’m not able to fight Muay Thai at the minute but I think I can be able to get through a month’s training just doing boxing.’”
The opportunity to fight Mayweather, though, went to reality TV star Aaron Chalmers since Harrison wasn’t cleared for the fight.
Liam Harrison said it was flattering to be considered by retired legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather as a possible opponent for one of his exhibition fights this year.
When Mayweather’s team contacted the “Hitman” to take on the retired boxer at London’s O2 Arena, the latter didn’t know what hit him. Harrison was unable to meet the challenge head-on due to his current knee injury.
However, he will always be appreciative to Mayweather for recognising him in the first instance. The UK celebrity said to the MMA Superfan in conversation:
Liam remarked that it was pleasant to simply be asked, acknowledged, and sufficiently taken note of by Floyd’s team and by Floyd himself, placing him in the position where he is the one for whom they will look for fights. Being on their radar is therefore desirable.
