Tony Dodson Excited About Harry Simon Opportunity
By Terence Dooley
Liverpool’s Tony Dodson is close to nailing down a fight with Namibia’s Harry Simon for the WBF 175lb title in Africa on September 30th, the fight has been agreed in principle and should be sealed sometime this week. Stephen Vaughan Junior, the promoter of Dodson, has verbally secured a deal. Simon held WBO titles at light-middleweight and middleweight during his early-noughties heyday only for controversy and inactivity to blight his promising rise.
The trouble with Harry is that he was jailed for ‘culpable homicide’ in 2005 for his role in a 2002 car accident, the former Olympian was handed a two-year sentence that threatened to derail his career. However, he returned to action in 2007 with a decision win over Stephen Nzuemba before disappearing and the reappearing with a brace of Ws during 2010.
Dodson believes that he has a great chance of upsetting the odds in this one, telling me that he will bring the WBF belt back to Merseyside. “To be honest I was sanctioned to fight a kid called Tony Averlant for the WBF title here in England but as you know the BBBoC don’t recognise the WBF and won’t stage their fights in this country these days,” revealed Dodson.
“It is a shame because the New York commission has accepted the WBF title, the Irish have accepted it and it is recognised all over the world. England hasn’t jumped back onboard as yet.
“Belts don’t make fighters, fighters make belts and no disrespect but I see Harry Simon as a stepping stone. Simon was an exceptional fighter in his day, he can boast a win over Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright when he was having his day and no one can boast that but he’s been inactive, three fights in the last ten years – I’ve been busy recently and will capitalise.”
Indeed, Dodson views his co-challenger’s 26-0 (19) record with scepticism, insisting that Simon holds good wins but failed to bring his power up to world title level. “Harry boxed mostly domestic level people for his KO wins,” he insisted.
“I know he beat Winky and Armand Krajnc but some the people who he knocked out weren’t really that good. To be fair, Wayne Alexander is a good friend of mine and was a really good fighter but he put his chin up in the air and got knocked out when he fought Simon, the same happened with Ensley Bingham and other fighters. When Simon got to world level he wasn’t scoring as many knockouts, he was doing it on points.
“I want to capitalise on the fact that I believe I am better than him at this stage. I don’t care about watching copies of his recent fights or travelling. I’m experienced enough to go in there and take the win, that is the bottom line.
“I don’t want to be feeling at my best right now. I want to peak on the night, there’s a bit of weight to shift, as usual, but the main goal is to lose the weight and peak at the right time. Boxing is all about timing these things – I’m where I need to be right now.”
Tony struggled against the scales when campaigning at super-middle, he lost British title tilts to Carl Froch, Tony Quigley and Paul Smith before moving up to 175lb for January’s Prizefighter: The Light-Heavyweights competition only to pick up a bad cut when securing his final berth with a semi-final win over Menay Edwards. Sam Couzens benefited from Tony’s misfortune; the substitute stepped straight into the final, losing in two rounds to overall winner Travis Dickenson.
“It disappointed me not to get the money because Sam walked into the final and picked up sixteen grand for doing nothing. I know for a fact that I’d have taken Travis out because I’m too good and experienced for that level. Carl Froch commented on it, he said you can’t buy experience and it showed when I walked through Prizefighter until picking up the cut. It is tough but comes with the job,” he mused.
Dodson has a 27-6-1 (13) slate, he was a class amateur yet had to learn his trade in the professional ranks; ‘The Warrior’ feels that his experience will come in handy when meeting Simon. Saying, “It is funny, I won seven national and a Junior Olympics medal as an amateur but only had thirty-eight fights – I’ve learned my trade in the pros.
“I have learned from getting in with grown men when I was still growing myself. When I get over there you’ll see me use everything I know and the experience will come through that night. I won’t walk away thinking that I could have put more into it, which was the case when I fought Paul Smith.
“I made 168lb when I was young, I’m over 6’ and walk around naturally at fourteen stone so it is tough for me to get down in weight. Getting to twelve stone was tough for far too strong. For a lad my size 175lb is a lot to play with. Everything is perfect for me now.”
Travelling to Africa for a fight is not ideal; Ali Nuumbembe left Namibia to learn his trade here in the UK and claimed that he was treated like an away boxer when he returned home for a fight with his compatriot Bethuel Ushona, ‘The Silent Assassin’ argued that the split-decision defeat was a bad call. Dodson will face a partisan crowd and is very much away from home.
“I’m not arsed, it doesn’t faze me at all but I’m a respectful person and won’t disrespect him in his own country, I’m not like that,” he said as talked turned to the bout’s location. “As long as you’re a nice guy who respects people and the way they live you can travel around the world and get a good reception. I was brought up that way, manners cost nothing and it won’t be a problem.
“Simon has been a class operator, let’s see what he’s got and rock and roll. I don’t want to think about anything other than this fight. It could catapult me into big fights, which is what I need at this point in my career. I am looking for bigger names after this.”
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