By Francisco Salazar
Dusty Hernandez Harrison could have wrapped up a successful 2013 campaign on November 2nd.
He won a 10 round unanimous decision over Josh Torres in his most difficult fight on paper, winning a youth title belt. The fight took place inside the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where he fought before a large contingent of family and friends.
A majority of fighters would put the equipment away, enjoy eating food during the holidays, and not worry about anything until January.
But Harrison is not like most fighters. Then again, Harrison is not like most 19 year olds, eager to fight one more time this year.
Harrison will fight Marlon Lewis in a scheduled eight round bout tonight at the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Dover, DE. The bout will be part of a seven-bout card that will be televised live on GFL.tv
Even though Harrison is 19 years of age, he has already tabulated a professional record of 18-0, with 10 knockouts. He has a large following in the Washington, DC area, where he currently resides. He will have a number of family, friends, and fans make the 90-mile drive from the area to Dover to watch him fight.
Harrison will be fighting a second time within three weeks. It is something he and his team feels is important to his development, but he admits there are pro and cons in doing so.
“In a good way, I’m not out of the gym and I’m always in shape,” Harrison told Boxingscene.com in a recent telephone interview. “Sometimes when it’s repetitive though, a fight where you train two weeks for, it could feel like 10 weeks.”
Harrison will take a break of sorts after the Lewis fight, albeit a small one. He is scheduled to return to the ring in January and may have another fight lined up in the spring time.
First things first, Harrison will need to take care of business against Lewis. Leading up to the fight, Lewis antagonized Harrison through twitter, calling him names and predicting what he would to him. Things were different at Friday’s weigh-in, as Lewis and Harrison were cordial and courteous towards one another.
“I know he doesn’t have any hate towards me,” said Harrison, who will be fighting for the eighth time this year. “There’s no animosity there. I think he was just trying to honestly be confident in himself. Come (Friday night) though, we plan to be in there and hurt each other.”
Harrison is a big draw in the Washington DC area and seems to be increasing his fan base abroad. On the GFL.tv website, Harrison is nominated for fighter and knockout of the year categories. He is the leading vote-getter in both categories.
Despite those accolades and winning a youth world title belt earlier this month, Harrison remains humble and grounded. Even after fights, including his last one in New York City, Harrison took as many photos as possible and signed as many articles as he could. It is something that has been stressed at a young age by his father: To be grounded and acknowledge those who pay to see him.
“Even from my first amateur fight, my father has said to take care of those who pay to see you. Thank them because they paid to see you. I do the best I can to take pictures with as many people as I could.”
“I love fighting in DC because of the following I have, but it’s more because of the relationships I’ve made with those who come watch. I’ve had athletes like Ty Lawson and Pierre Garcon come watch me fight. Since I’m young, I attract a lot of teenagers to the fights as well.”
Harrison would like to fight seven or eight more times in 2014. He wants more 10 rounds fights and to get more exposure.
He may want the easy road to success, but he knows easy does not mean progress towards success. His actions in wanting to become a better fighter are demonstrated by the number of fights he takes on and the work he puts in the gym.
Who knows how Harrison’s career will develop in the long run. But for now, Harrison is doing very well.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Knockout Nation, and Ring TV. He could be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
