Dusty Harrison's Dad: We're Free, No Golden Boy Deal?

By Ryan Maquinana

Last month, unbeaten welterweight Dusty “Beltway Boricua” Harrison, the youngest fighter in America, was all smiles when Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer announced he had signed the 17-year-old ahead of the Dec. 10 Amir Khan-Lamont Peterson card in his hometown of Washington, D.C.

But ever since Harrison (3-0, 1 KO) knocked out Terrell Davis (0-4) in one round on the Washington, D.C. show, his father and trainer, Buddy Harrison, has advised BoxingScene.com that his son is a promotional free agent.

“The whole world thinks we’re signed with Golden Boy,” Buddy said.  “Actually we’re not.  Something to do with his age—he’s 17.  I don’t know them well enough just to get on the phone and call them and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on with my son?’  It’s not like that, so we’ll stay here for a while until something happen.”

The Harrisons have not heard from anyone at Golden Boy since the December card at the nation’s capital.  The fighter’s name does not appear on the Golden Boy website’s roster.  With virtually no communication or a detailed contract, Buddy believes it’s time to open discussions with other promoters.

“It was a big moment for us when Richard got up and said he was going to have his first fight under Golden Boy,” Buddy said.  “[Dusty] was pretty excited…but I don’t know them well enough just to get on the phone and call them.  We’re little guys here.  I’d love to have a home, but right now, we’ll just be sticking in D.C. for a while.”

According to Buddy, his son will fight on March 10 against an unnamed opponent at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., the same site of his previous fight against Davis.

“All the local promoters are very interested in him,” Buddy said.  “Of course, he sells tickets. We’ve got a local promoter, Keystone Boxing, doing the card, and it’s going to be great to have him fighting in the same place where he fought on the Khan-Peterson undercard, so we’re excited about that.”

Ryan Maquiñana has a weekly column for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (CSNBayArea.com). He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at www.maqdown.com, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.