By James Blears
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman is offering encouragement to Scotland’s Scott Harrison who’s launching a comeback.
Harrison (30), who was stripped of his World Boxing Organization Featherweight title after being downed by personal problems, has not fought in almost two years. The British Board of Boxing Control suspended his license after a fight against England’s Nicky Cook was scrapped at short notice last December.
Harrison, who now plans to campaign as a Super Featherweight insists he’s back on the rails and has been training hard for three months in a determined bid to re-gain his fitness.
His aim is to have a warm up fight in December to shed ring rust and then climb back to title contention. The WBC Super Featherweight Champion is Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez. A fight between him and Scott Harrison was once being seriously considered, but it never cleared the hurdle of the hot air stage.
Jose Sulaiman who’s supported other boxers and former boxers with a whole range of outside of the ring problems, told BoxingScene.com that he applauds Scott’s determination to fight to get his life back together.
He said: “We must work very closely with the British Board of Boxing Control who are our very good friends, and we can sit down and talk about this.
“My personal opinion is that if Scott goes through a very thorough medical examination, succeeds and looks well in a comeback match then he should be supported, because as a human being he cannot be kicked away from life.”
Boxing greats who were formally champions of other organizations like Marco Antonio Barrera and the Marquez brothers have become WBC champions and Don Jose explained that this could be a possibility for Scott, if he can regain the form and sheer grit, which saw him decisively win back the title he lost to Mexico’s Manuel Medina.
Don Jose said: “The first step for Scott is to get back his boxing license. And once he does that, and if he defeats anybody of value he will be back. And if he then defeats anyone ranked in the first fifteen of the world he would be seriously considered.”
Don Jose also commented that many talented boxers work desperately hard. But when they reach the pinnacle of their career and win a world title, a whole set of temptations are waiting to topple them.
He urged: “Scott must be forgiven. If he is definitely out of these problems, away from the vices and everything bad that came to his life, he should be forgiven and helped by the boxing authorities as well as by the people. People should understand the humanity of every individual.”
