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- guardian.co.uk, Thursday November 16 2000 07.56 GMT
BBC executives will today meet charismatic Olympic boxing champion Audley Harrison to discuss a unique deal that would involve televising his fights and training him to become both a sports pundit and a presenter on non-sports programmes.
The personable Harrison, 28, who has a university degree, is considered bright and articulate and someone who has battled against adversity to gain success. The boxer recently revealed that he served 32 months in a young offender institution and claimed boxing helped him to improve his life and receive a good education.
The deal would represent a major victory for the corporation in its attempt to secure new sports rights and could be worth up to £10m to Harrison depending on how successful he is in the ring.
The BBC has a large amount of money set aside for sport after missing out on the right to televise highlights of Premier League matches with a bid of £123m earlier this year. It is believed that some of this money could be used to secure Harrison's signature.
The deal would give the BBC exclusive rights to televise Harrison's bouts during prime time once the amateur boxer turns professional next year.
A BBC source said: "Greg Dyke [the director general] was extremely impressed by Audley and the public and media reaction to his win.
"Audley won gold on BBC television so it would be stupid of us not to get involved with him. At the moment we are asking a lot of questions, there are offers on the table but we have to see what's in it for us."
Mr Dyke, Peter Salmon, director of BBC sport, and a number of other officials from the corporation's sports department are to meet Harrison and his advisers who have been examining ways to increase his profile and popularity with the British public since his Olympic win.
Harrison is keen to use terrestrial television to promote his professional career in and out of the ring, believing that it would give him wider exposure than signing up with satellite television, as most boxers have done.
The BBC would also give Harrison media training and use him as a boxing pundit and presenter on a number of programmes. He would be considered ideal for children's programmes and a number of prime-time evening shows as well as sports programmes.
Harrison has been involved in negotiations with a number of boxing promoters and television companies since winning gold.
Mr Dyke, who began his career in journalism as a freelance boxing reporter, believes Harrison would benefit from signing with the corporation in the same way that Frank Bruno and former world champion Barry McGuigan did during the 1980s, when their fights were shown on terrestrial television.
Boxing has had a low profile on the BBC since the mid-1980s when world championship fights drew television audiences of 15-18m.
Harrison's bout in which he won a gold medal was shown on BBC television and proved to be one of the most popular moments of the Olympic Games.
