Liam Harrison shares how Floyd Mayweather fight came about and fell through

Liam Harrison made headlines a few weeks ago when his name was announced as boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr's next dance partner. Apparently, 'Hitman' was selected to box the undefeated semi-retired boxer in an exhibition bout at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Shortly after the announcement was made, though, Harrison pulled out and was subsequently replaced by TV personality and former Bellator fighter, Aaron Chalmers.

In an interview with LastBSTN, Harrison recounted how the fight came about and eventually got canceled:

Harrison said:

"'Floyd Mayweather Jr's team in interested in fighting you here', and I was like, 'I don't believe you'. ... And this was a couple of weeks before the fight and then like, the next minute I'm on f****** facetime to Mayweather's manager, and he's like, 'right, this is gonna happen', blah blah bla. I just sat there like, open mouthed and be like, 'what on earth is going on here'"

'The Hitman' continued:

"Obviously I knew my leg were blitzed, but I thought 'it's only boxing. Just hands and that. There's no kicking, no twisting. Should be alright'. Jumped into training and stuff like that and thinking 'here we go'. And as soon as I started sparring and having to move around the ring, my leg just ballooned up. I said to my surgeon, 'How am I gonna be able to get through this. It's only boxing, there's no kicking.' He said, 'It's up to you. I'm not gonna tell you what to do. But you might cause irreversible damage that I can't fix."

Harrison smartly heeded his surgeon's warning and immediately went for knee surgery, canceling the bout with 'Money'. He's currently recovering but is already in the gym preparing to make his comeback soon.

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How did Liam Harrison hurt his knee before getting Floyd Mayweather Jr fight offer?

In the interview, Liam Harrison said that his leg was already "blitzed" by the time Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s team offered him the fight. Although his legs undoubtedly accumulated some damage throughout his lengthy career, the breaking point may have happened in the co-main event of ONE on Prime Video 1 last year.

Liam Harrison challenged ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O Ham for the belt. Harrison and Nong-O started the fight almost mirroring each other blow-for-blow. The Thai world champion, though, appeared to be landing harder, faster strikes.

Nong-O eventually landed a crushing low kick that wobbled the Brit, and he viciously followed up with another that caused the leg to collapse. Liam Harrison fell to the floor. As the referee started the count, 'Hitman' looked over at his corner seemingly telling them that the fight was over, as his leg was severely compromised.

The loss snapped Harrison's five-fight winning streak, forcing him out of a money fight with Mayweather, and requiring him to go under the knife. Two kicks was all it took.

Watch the full fight here: