Harrison's dad hits out at media

Peter Harrison says he would not mind if his son did not fight again

Scott Harrison's father Peter has told BBC Scotland that the press will not be happy until his son is "in his coffin".

Speaking on Radio Scotland's Sports Weekly, Harrison Snr - who is also the boxer's trainer - said he would not mind if his son never fought again.

"He is under more pressure than any other sportsman or person in this country," he said.

"The newspapers won't be happy until Scott Harrison is in his coffin, then they will be nice about him."

Interview: boxing trainer Peter Harrison

The former WBO featherweight champion was scheduled to fight Nicky Cook at the ExCel Arena in London on Saturday.

If Scott never boxed again it wouldn't bother me Scott Harrison's father and trainer Peter

But the Glasgow-born fighter was unable to make the weight limit and withdrew from the bout.

"If Scott never boxed again it wouldn't bother me as long as he's happy," Peter Harrison said.

"First of all he must be healthy and happy and that's from a father and a trainer's point of view.

"Obviously, we are devastated about what has happened recently but Scott vacated the title, it was not taken off him.

"We were all fooling ourselves that Scott was going to come out and prepare for a world title fight in three weeks when it takes eight weeks to prepare for it."

He added: "We all wanted the fight for different reasons."

Looking to the future, Harrison Snr said his son would have to step up a weight if he was to continue his career.

606 DEBATE: Do you agree with Peter Harrison?

"I'm sure Scott will continue boxing. He has hurt more than anyone else," he said.

"It's not like he just didn't turn up for a weigh-in on Wednesday, the fight was actually off on Tuesday.

"I think he will move up to 9st 9lb. Fitness wasn't the problem it was just trying to do the weight.

"When you build muscle it builds weight and it was more difficult to take muscle off in the short period of time and he just couldn't get it off."

Harrison was released from a Spanish prison last month following allegations of assault and faces trial in February.