Liam Harrison admits he tried to fight through knee injury to box Floyd Mayweather

British Muay Thai specialist Liam Harrison nearly stepped into the squared circle with boxing legend Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.

Last month, Mayweather continued his exhibition world tour with a stop in the UK for a bout with ‘MTV star’ Aaron Chalmers. Originally, ONE world title challenger Liam Harrison was expected to compete against Mayweather, but a knee injury prevented him from climbing into the ring for the unique opportunity.

Speaking with The MMA Superfan, ‘The Hitman’ revealed that he had scheduled his surgery for the end of January before getting the call to step in against the undefeated boxing sensation. He said:

“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.’”

Despite needing knee surgery, Harrison admitted that he was willing to fight through the injury to take advantage of the opportunity:

“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.’”

Sadly, Liam Harrison was not cleared for the bout. Aaron Chalmers, a reality TV star turned boxer, stepped into Harrison’s spot to face Floyd Mayweather. Needless to say, there was a significant lack of interest in the replacement contest as the pair competed at the half-empty O2 Arena in London.

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Liam Harrison looks back at competing in Thailand during his younger years

When a fighter heads to Thailand to compete, they are not only challenged by their opponent, but by the environment. The Southeast Asian country is hot and humid all year round, interspersed with tropical rain showers. If a fighter does not properly acclimate themselves to the climate, they can find themselves in a world of trouble. Liam Harrison knows a thing or two about this.

‘The Hitman’ recently shared a story about his first experience fighting in Thailand without giving himself time to adapt to the heat and humidity:

“So, like a d**khead, I flew over to Thailand only a week before, not acclimatized, didn’t realize we were fighting outside. First two rounds again, I’ve done alright. I remember trying to get my breath, I went *gasp* and my lungs just opened up that much.

"I went, 'f**k me'. ... I was sitting down in the corner going, ‘Richard, I’m f**ked, mate. I’m f**ked.’ I couldn’t get my breath at all. …When you step off the plane, it’s like that weird, smoggy, breathing in polluted air.”