By Ben Jacobs
When a legend in the sport of boxing tips you for future superstardom, you have to take notice of what is said. The late, great Emmanuel Steward believed that Detroit prospect, Tony Harrison (19-0, 16 KOs) has all the capabilities needed to be a world champion one day, and Showtime Extreme viewers last week caught a glimpse of what may be coming.
Last Saturday in Washington, Harrison dispensed with power-puncher Tyrone Brunson in one round with what appeared to be a liver shot that prevented the Philadelphian from continuing. However, Harrison offered a different view on the ending.
“Actually, I think I hurt him with a hook to the head. On the camera angle you couldn’t really see it but I hit him on the temple,” he explained to BoxingScene.
“If you look at him when he was down on his knees he was blinking a lot like he was dizzy. Everybody said it was the body shot but I think it was the hook to the head.
“I was pretty satisfied after all the hard work. The name of the game is to hit and not get it, so I was satisfied with not getting hit and making a good check!”
Harrison has flown slightly under the radar among the wider boxing public even though hardcore fans have been aware of his talents for a while.
“It’s great getting the exposure with all the hard work that I’m putting in,” he admitted.
“Everyone gets to see what Manny saw in me from the amateur days, I finally get to display that with Showtime or whatever television network calls me in the future.
“When someone like Emmanuel Steward speaks highly of you that’s like Phil Jackson saying the next man is going to be Michael Jordan. People pay attention to that, the man’s credentials are so strong that what he says is almost golden. He’s the Phil Jackson of the sport, he accomplished so much, he made nothings into somethings.”
Unlike many prospects from the United States, Harrison has already gained valuable experience fighting abroad, specifically in Europe with three trips to Germany, including his professional debut, and one bout in Switzerland.
“It was a great experience. That overseas style is something you should get used to. UK fighters are very strong, the routine of their training…there is nothing like it in the US. Kell Brook just won a title so there’s going to be a lot of overseas fights going on. Amir Khan keeps winning and looking good, their work ethic is ten times stronger than most Americans. Skill wise it’s not great but their will and determination to win is greater than their skill. Most of their styles are different because they’re coached differently. It was a great part of my learning to fight a different style. I never went to the Pan-Ams or the world tournaments. Fighting in Germany was my amateur world tournament!”
Newly crowned WBO champion Andy Lee is a good friend of the 24-year-old and they both compete in the same division. Nevertheless, Tony doesn’t rule out the possibility that the two could clash in the ring at some point down the line, despite their friendship.
“He’s my man but friends are friends and business is business. If it occurs for me to fight him then it could happen, if the shoe was on the other foot and he had the chance to feed his family then I think he would take the fight. It’s the same with me. I love Andy Lee like he’s a brother of mine but if I get the chance to feed my family and then win a world title and feed them more, make more money, then I’d take it. And I’m sure it would be the same the other way around. It’s nothing personal. We’ve had great gym work since I first met him. I first met him through a spar actually, Manny called me to spar him. I actually didn’t know him at the time but I looked up his record and saw a great knockout he did with a left hook. Since then Andy has showed me lots of his skills, great reach, and how to use the ring well. We had great work in that Kronk gym.”
Harrison has also faced the world’s best middleweight, Gennady Golovkin in sparring.
“He’s a bad man! He is a bad man! Being able to get in the ring with somebody who is knocking out everybody, and you want to know why he’s knocking out everybody, I thought this guy cannot be doing the shit that he’s doing! You look at him and say he’s got a babyface and you get in there and he’s a totally different guy. He’s one of the best that I’ve ever sparred. It scares me how a guy so little is punching as hard as he’s punching. He’s got that unpredictable strength, he punches amazingly hard. I’ve sparred Wladimir Klitschko and it’s a different kind of power, though. I wouldn’t say he’s punching like a heavyweight, but for the division, heavyweight is what he is!
“I don’t see anyone with too many chances against him unless it’s someone with great footwork, jab and balance. There are not too many fighters that carry that quality. I’m definitely not shooting Martin Murray down, every fighter has a chance to pull off an upset but it’s rare to catch a fighter with all the attributes that Golovkin has.”
Harrison considers his second round stoppage of veteran, Grady Brewer as his biggest win thus far despite Brewer’s age of 44 at the time they fought.
“He was a guy that everyone was taking stepping stones with, Demetrius Andrade fought him a year before me and didn’t knock him out. Fernando Guerrero lost to him, even at a late age nobody could knock him out and I did it. It’s something I won’t forget. The place was packed wall to wall and it was the biggest moment in my life so far. It was crazy, you had to be there to see it.”
Harrison speaks well, is affable and has a fan friendly style. With the influential Al Haymon as his manager, one could expect to see Harrison on television more often in 2015 and he may not even be too far away from some big fights.
“Al is looking for big things from me as are my team and my father. I feel like whoever I fight I can get the job done. I will always find a way to win. I’m going to train harder as I move on up. The grind is crazy now, it’s at a whole new level.”
