by David P. Greisman
Dusty Hernandez-Harrison’s last fight ended barely halfway into the first round. He expects his next appearance to be quite different — and not just because the Jan. 9 bout against Tommy Rainone will be the main event at the Madison Square Garden Theater on Fox Sports 1 and will mark the official entry into boxing for Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.
“He’s a southpaw, pretty slick. He’s been the distance a good amount of times, so he’s used to going 10 rounds, which we’re going. I know he’s never been stopped. I’m definitely expecting a good amount of rounds out of him,” Hernandez-Harrison said. “I’m not expecting a knockout at all. He doesn’t have a track record of being hurt and knocked out.”
Rainone is 22-5-1 with 4 knockouts. All five of his losses were on the scorecards. He’s gone 10 rounds twice, while Hernandez-Harrison has done so once.
Hernandez-Harrison, who is 24-0 with 13 KOs, doesn’t expect Rainone to stand in front of him. Meanwhile, the 20-year-old welterweight prospect is continuing to work on developing as a prizefighter.
“I think in the fights I don’t show as much power as I really have, sitting down on punches and setting up the big shots,” he said. “I do it pretty good in the gym but am just working on doing that in the ring when it’s fight time.”
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