GLENN McCrory hailed David Dolan's meteoric rise last night and insisted the Sunderland super-heavyweight would be a match for Audley Harrison.

On the eve of Dolan's assault on Commonwealth Games gold, McCrory backed his friend to sweep all before him in the professional fight game - even though the 22-year-old has vowed to remain an amateur until 2004.

Harrison, 30, has failed to convince his ever-growing army of critics that he can bridge the gap between the amateur and pro ranks ever since he crossed the divide after his Sydney Olympics success.

The transition would be no such problem for Dolan, maintains McCrory, who has looked on with pride as the Plains Farm ABC boxer has marched into today's final against French-Canadian David Cadieux.

McCrory said: "David could give Audley Harrison a good fight now. I don't know if he'd win but he'd be a very tough opponent for Harrison.

"Look at the ages of David and Harrison, and you can see what an exciting prospect David is.

"The potential is there for David to do something at the Olympics and he has the potential to do very well as a professional.

"With Lennox Lewis retiring very shortly, the heavyweight division is wide open. There's nothing out there, and even as a 24-year-old David would be a really young heavyweight."

Dolan, and his brother James, have trained at McCrory's gym and been given guidance by the former IBF world cruiserweight champion.

Dolan's emergence, which has included three successive ABA titles before this week's triumphs in Manchester, has come at a time when there is a paucity of top-class North-East boxing talent.

That pains McCrory, who now works as a boxing commentator for Sky Television after a fight career which saw him lose to Lewis and spar with Mike Tyson.

He said: "We're short of really good fighters in the North-East. We've got a tremendous amount of talent at junior level but it seems to dwindle at senior level.

"But David is looking like he's an exception to that, and I'm so pleased for him. He's a lovely lad and I've told him that, as the only guy from the North-East to have done it, he can always come to me for advice.

"David is a very educated boxer. He uses his boxing brain well and he's got a very good jab. He has the fundamental skills to be a very good boxer.

"The Commonwealth Games are a bit easier than the Olympics, for example, where you'd meet the eastern Europeans, the Americans and the Cubans.

"But David's done very well and it's great to see someone from the North-East get this far."