By Thomas Gerbasi

Tony Harrison could be a world champion by Christmas, but in the lead-up to his Saturday meeting with WBC junior middleweight titleholder Jermell Charlo, it’s almost as if all the pre-fight chatter is about what’s next for Texas’ Charlo.

“It goes in one ear and out the other,” he said. “I don’t even take it personally. I think as the champ, you deserve whatever recognition they’re giving you. You earned it. And it’s the media’s job to prep for what’s next and not for what’s now. My job is to throw that off, and that’s my only plan. I’m trying to throw a monkey wrench into the business. Go ahead, keep giving him all the spotlight, put him on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ but December 22, he’s gotta get in the ring and he’s gotta fight and he’s gotta prove it to everybody else.”

If we needed any reminders why Harrison – or any other challenger, for that matter – is not to be underestimated, ESPN’s 30 for 30 series offered one in the case of 42 to 1 underdog Buster Douglas, who shocked the world in 1990 when he knocked out Mike Tyson.

Harrison is no 42 to 1 underdog, and he knows it. And even if he were, it wouldn’t stop him from training hard and showing up to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center ready to throw down. So let them talk.

“When all that’s going on, I’m in the gym training, and on December 22, trust me, he won’t be in the ring by himself,” said Harrison, who has won three straight since a 2017 loss to Jarrett Hurd. It’s the Hurd fight that the boxing world expects next for Charlo, and Harrison knows it. But being the one to interfere with those plans and perhaps set up a rematch with the IBF / WBA / IBO champion is quite an enticing proposition, and even more than that, getting to meet Charlo has lit a fire under the Detroit native.

“I always wanted to be the type to compete against the best,” he said. “That’s all I ever wanted. Since I was little, I used to see the guys on the TV screen and that was my dream. That’s who I wanted to play against, that’s who I wanted to fight against, and that’s always been the theme for me. Compete and see where you’re at as a fighter. So to be fighting someone that’s undefeated, who’s carrying the belt that everybody in the world dreams of carrying, and I get my shot at it, I could have did it for free. So I’m grateful. It woke me back up. I had goosebumps when they called me for it.”

A title. Bigger fights and opportunities. Better paydays. They’re all in store for Harrison should he win this weekend. But to him, they’re fringe benefits to the bigger picture, as the challenger brings more than himself into the ring on fight night. He’s fighting for his city’s place on the boxing map, fighting for the kids he mentors in his SuperBad Boxing Gym, and for his family. And when I say family, it’s not just those around him now, but for a grandfather who never got his shot at championship gold, middleweight and light heavyweight contender of the 50s and 60s, Henry Hank.

One of the hardest punchers of his era and owner of 40 knockouts among his 62 pro wins, Hank was a television staple who defeated the likes of Joey Giardello and Jimmy Ellis while also squaring off with Dick Tiger, Bob Foster and Harold Johnson. Somehow, a title shot eluded Hank, but now that Harrison has his second opportunity to get a belt, having it in the family is an important goal.

“To hold the family in a spot that we’ve been trying to get to for a long time would be pretty f**king super dope,” said Harrison. “And to do it against one of the guys who everybody doesn’t expect you to do it against makes it even better. For me to be able to do that, I think it’s well overdue, and it would be dope to put Detroit and our family back in the spotlight we deserve.”

Detroit, home to a seemingly endless array of world-class fighters: Louis. Robinson. Hearns. McCrory. Carr. And let’s not forget the Kronk Gym, where Emanuel Steward created champions in the Motor City. Harrison learned a lot of his game under the wing of the late, great trainer, just adding to his connection to his hometown, a place that he believes produces a certain kind of fighter.

“Fearless, tough, skillful, hard puncher, legacy, hustling,” Harrison said. “Every name you can think of that comes with being a bad boy, you have to put that with Detroit. We come with so much and we can do so much. There’s not a thing that we can’t do and I think our biggest task is just sticking together and doing it together.”

As for the final piece of this pre-fight puzzle, when it’s said that Harrison is doing this largely for the kids, it’s not a PR angle. He puts his money where his mouth is through his gym and the programs inside the four walls. It’s about preparing the youngsters for more than the ring; it’s preparing them for life.

“It’s always been where my heart was, and I always cared about kids and helping our next generation do better,” he said. “And I just cared about making our neighborhood better. So most of the kids I have, I’m trying to give them more discipline and put them more in tune with themselves. I think boxing put you in direct tune with yourself and with being accountable for yourself.”

With important work like that being done, Harrison is setting down a greater legacy than anything that happens in the ring on Saturday night can give him. But he’s not looking for a pat on the back.
 
“I never really think about it that far,” he said. “I just want to do my part. And the sports part of it’s always been second. I just so happen to be pretty good at the sports part of it, but it was always second to me. I just want to be a good human being. And I think the people I’ve been around – my family, my mom, my grandma – they’ve always been the helping hand, and I got it straight from them.”

You don’t see a selfless attitude like that in any walk of life these days. It’s refreshing. But Tony Harrison is human, too. So he’s got some plans for his Sunday return to Detroit.

“I swear to God, as we speak, I’ve got a guy building me a spot for me to put a glass showcase to put that belt in there,” he laughs. “It will be done by the 22nd, and when I land back home on the 23rd, we’ll be ready to put that thing right in the case. But it might not be in the case. I’m actually gonna carry it around like I’m JR Smith and walk around with no shirt and just the belt on my chest for a whole month.”

Isn’t it too cold to be doing that during a Detroit winter?

“Listen, my adrenaline is gonna be pumping so hot for a whole month, I don’t even need a shirt.”