By James Blears
Now that Scott Harrison has sort of redeemed himself, and boosted his confidence by defeating Michael Brodie, it’s high time for him to go for broke and fight Juan Manuel Marquez with three belts on the line.
Brodie was brave and game, briefly exposing Scott’s boxing deficiencies. Power is one thing that Harrison possesses in abundance and the body of his work was plain to see.
However, fighting the best of Mexico will be an altogether different, unique and blood curdling experience for Scott Harrison.
Erik Morales is simply out of the question. He would whip and overwhelm Scott in double quick time. He’s in a different division in both senses, and it would be sheer folly to even consider a match up.
It really wouldn’t be a good idea to take on Marco Antonio Barrera either. Remember how clinically Marco exposed Naseem Hamed. He outboxed Hamed, out witted him, exposed his off balance amateur technique. And as Naseem’s stamina visibly drained out of him, he became the pound for pound most pounded boxer in the division. Naseem was never the same again after this. His body recovered, but his pride remained bruised for much longer.
Scott would be cruelly exposed and then disposed by Marco Antonio Barrera.
The case for Juan Manuel Marquez is almost as daunting, but not quite. Marquez has even more skill and strategy than Barrera, but he doesn’t posses quite the same stunning power.
Scott Harrison looked awful and performed worse against Colombian Victor Polo, who made a mess of his face and beautifully out boxed him all night long.
Marquez handled Victor Polo reasonably easy and Polo never came close to giving him a belting, or strapping on the WBA or IBF versions. Polo’s fourth and probably final attempt to become champion of the world, was handled and contained by a ring general.
Previously, Marquez himself got the shock of a lifetime in the first round of his thriller against Manny Pacquiao. But he showed his grit and fantastic conditioning to get up and outbox the rugged, hard slugging Pac Man. In this he performed better than Barrera.
How did he recover from such a savage initial pasting?
Most of the current Mexican greats incorporate altitude training in their training routine. If they come from Mexico City, they’re already half way there as it’s located three thousand meters above sea level. Add another one thousand five hundred meters to that, and you’ll reach the Otomi High Altitude Center perched in the Mountains near Toluca, about forty miles away from the world’s largest metropolis.
There are rocks, sky, a river, a green house like gym, a road in, and one out, which is normally only taken during daylight. Whole sets of little white crosses by the descending verges show the name of drivers and some pedestrians who failed to use common sense, near sheer drops along darkened highways, skirted by dark, thin, pine trees.
Erik Morales trains there, the Chavez duo use it, so does hard hitting Jorge Arce, and Jose Luis Castillo. Six to eight weeks there gives them an amazing aerobic capacity, radically boosting their red blood cell count.
It’s a monastic existence and not for everyone. Marco Antonio Barrera prefers Big Bear in California, which roughly at the same rarefied altitude, but has a few more home comforts and some of the trappings of planet earth.
Juan Manuel Marquez trains, at an even higher level than Otomi, perhaps as much as another thousand meters higher, close to some volcanic craters.
But in a concession to sanity, he goes up there on Fridays and returns to Mexico City on Sunday.
I would estimate that in a long drawn out fight, this type of preparation is worth three rounds, and that’s why Mexican fighters seldom fade down the home stretch.
To be able to compete, Scott Harrison will have to find somewhere higher than the Highlands to train. Because as lovely as it is, it’s the lowlands in this league of world class preparation.
Scott Harrison is hard, tough and full of fire, but Mexican fighters especially the likes of Marquez, Barrera and Morales can extinguish all of that.
Manuel Medina, with all his skills, was a relatively light hitter, and his age put him, on the other side of the hill, if not exactly over it. The big three are another prospect altogether.
If Scott Harrison is to stand a real, and not just a puncher’s chance of winning, Frank Maloney must take him to Big Bear, where Lennox Lewis barbecued steaks and chopped down sparring partners, or somewhere else above the tree line.
The prize for Scott Harrison would be three world title belts instead of one. Of course if he fought Injin Chi, he’d get the WBC’s green version.
The challenge is nothing less than daunting. To defeat the likes of Marquez or Barrera, you not only gain the status of a great…you’ve also earned it the hardest way!
