By Rick Reeno
This coming Saturday night, the WBA junior welterweight champion Vivian Harris (25-1-1, 17K) will get some much needed exposure when he faces Carlos Maussa (17-2-15K) on the undercard of the very anticipated Arturo Gatti vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. mega-bout. Harris is looking to make a very impressive statement to the boxing world in order to get some recognition from the general boxing public as one of the elite fighters at 140 pounds.
Thsi past weekend, Vivian sat down with BoxingScene to discuss his career, rumors of ducking Miguel Cotto, the Gatti-Mayweather bout and various other topics.
BoxingScene.com: What do you think about fighters like Floyd Mayweather, who say that they have no idea who you even are?
Vivian Harris: He says that because he doesn't want to fight me. They say that so they don't have to fight me. If you know what everybody does, you should know everyone in your division. You know what I mean? He doesn't want to talk about Vivian Harris because he doesn't want to fight me. He was my mandatory, he knows who Vivian Harris is. He knows who the champions are in the division and who aren't the champions. He was my mandatory and instead took a fight against a fighter that nobody knows from Puerto Rico, Cotto's sparring partner.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think too many fighters use the excuse of "there is not enough money in fighting Vivian Harris"?
Vivian Harris: There still a lot of money, these guys just don't want to fight. He (Mayweather) fought Bruseles, there would of been more money in fighting with me then fighting Bruseles. These guys just don't want to fight, it has nothing to do with the money.
BoxingScene.com: Most boxing experts have Mayweather as a heavy favorite in his fight with Gatti. Mayweather says that Gatti will be an easy fight for him. Do you think the fight will be an easy fight for Mayweather?
Vivian Harris: No fight is an easy fight. You never go into the ring thinking a fight is an easy fight. This is boxing and all it takes is one punch to win a fight. Everyone knows that Gatti is a puncher, you saw what happened to Mayweather against "Chop Chop" Corley. We are going to have to wait and see. Gatti is training hard for this fight, harder then he ever trained before in his life. Just like the other night with Kostya Tszyu and Ricky Hatton, everyone thought Tszyu was going to put Hatton away. This is going to be a good fight. He's talking garbage and he hasn't done anything that Arturo Gatti hasn't done. What did he do that Gatti hasn't done? Gatti has beat some good fighters, he won some big fights, fights that were so good that nobody has ever seen anything like it. What did Mayweather ever do?
BoxingScene.com: Mayweather has the more impressive resume, he holds victories over pound for pound fighters like Castillo and Corrales, but Mayweather is not in the same position as Gatti in this fight. Gatti can lose this fight and still be marketable enough that people will pay to see him fight over and over. If Mayweather loses this fight, his career will take a big hit. Mayweather has not been able to connect with the general public like Gatti has been able to do for many years.
Vivian Harris: Exactly, exactly. I also think Mayweather's chin is suspect, Gatti is going to come out there ready to fight and Mayweather might get caught.
BoxingScene.com: You will have a lot of exposure as the supporting bout for the upcoming Gatti-Mayweather pay per view. There are no restrictions on your career, you have no obligations to either Showtime or HBO. Because you are not locked down to a network, do you expect to fight one of the other top fighters at 140 pounds before the year is up?
Vivian Harris: Right now I'm not even thinking about those cats. I'm just thinking about my opponent Carlos Maussa and winning that fight. Whatever comes after the fight will come. I'm not going to stress thinking about that, I'm just going to live my life. I'm the champion, they don't want to fight me for my title. I'm going to be here for a long time.
BoxingScene.com: Maussa has been in the ring with some good fighters like Miguel Cotto among others. Do you feel any pressure in this fight to perform more impressively then fighters like Cotto?
Vivian Harris: No, I feel no pressure. I'm just focused the same way that I'm focused for all of my fights. I don't care what Miguel Cotto did to him or what he did to Miguel Cotto. He hasn't been in the ring with Vivian Harris. It's a totally different kind of fight. Vivian Harris is not a Miguel Cotto and Miguel Cotto is not a Vivian Harris.
BoxingScene.com: I'm sure you heard the rumors that Miguel Cotto's camp said that you refused to take a fight with him.
Vivian Harris: I don't care what they say. Miguel Cotto was my mandatory and he didn't take the fight. Sometime I think that these managers and these promoters pay the networks to talk good about them. I don't pay anyone to talk good about me. I win all my fights convincingly and let my hands talk good about me. I don't tell anyone to talk good about me. I've always wanted to fight Cotto, I've called out Cotto. I wanted to fight him in Madison Square Garden and instead he fights Abdullaev.
BoxingScene.com: If you are unable to land a fight against any of the top fighters at 140 pounds, would you be willing to move up to 147 where the top fighters are more likely to fight you since they would view you as a smaller man moving up in weight?
Vivian Harris: I don't know what my future holds right now. Whatever happens after this fight will happen. I cant tell you right now what will happen, I'm just focusing on winning this fight.
BoxingScene.com: Where you surprised that Ricky Hatton had very little trouble with Kostya Tszyu a few weeks back? Were you expecting Tszyu to win that fight?
Vivian Harris: I wasn't expecting anything in that fight, let the best man win. I'm not really a fan of picking who is going to win a fight. People asked me about it and I said "I don't know. I dont know if Tszyu would be able to take Hatton's style or if Hatton would be able to take Tszyu's style."
BoxingScene.com: Does if frustrate you that you do so much to get your name out there with your willingness to fight anyone at anytime and the media overlooks you for other fighters in the division?
Vivian Harris: Is doesn't bother me because they had good management and I had nobody working for me. I had a stupid manager that did nothing and was just trying to take money from me. He didn't do what other promoters do by getting my name out there. It was because of a bad manager, it was an experience for me and you have to live and learn. These guys are more popular even though I've had tougher fights.
BoxingScene.com: How many fights would you like to have in 2005?
Vivian Harris: To be honest with you, I have a fight coming up this week and I'm not expecting anything. I'm just expecting to win in that fight. I'm just focused on this fight and winning this fight.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think it is harder to land a deal with one of the networks because of all the fighters that have landed big network deals in the last few years and fell apart right afterwards?
Vivian Harris: You cant really blame the networks, these guys have good promoters and good managers. They sit down with the networks and get a deal for them. I was caught up in my situation with my management.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think being under the same promotional banner as Arturo Gatti hurts your career?
Vivian Harris: No it doesn't hurt my career because I'm going to be the last man standing. I'm with a good promotional company, but at the moment they are focusing on other fighters first. Everything happens for a reason. If he doesn't do what he is supposed to do then they will focus on vivian Harris.
BoxingScene.com: What do you want to say to the boxing fans reading this interview?
Vivian Harris: Vivian Harris is not going anywhere, I'm taking it one fight at a time. I'm not even going to bother calling these other guys out because they don't want to fight me. Everybody will see that Vivian Harris is the best fighter at 140 pounds this Saturday.