By Allan Fox: Previously unbeaten #8 IBF junior middleweight contender Tony “Superman” Harrison (21-1, 18 KOs) was beaten for the first time last Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN in getting stopped in the 9th round by Willie Nelson (24-2-1, 14 KOs) in an upset loss at the USF Sundome, in Tampa, Florida, USA.
The 24-year-old Harrison was ahead on the scorecards going into the 9th round when he was badly hurt by a right hand from Nelson to the top of his head. Nelson then hit Harrison with a grazing left hand followed by a right uppercut that knocked Harrison down on his backside on the canvas.
Harrison was able to stagger to his feet, but instead of turning around immediately, he staggered face first into the corner post. At that point referee Frank Santore Jr. had no choice but to halt the fight. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:57 of the 9th round. Harrison tried to protest the stoppage but Santore Jr. had already stopped the fight and he wasn’t about to restart the fight given how badly hurt Harrison was.
Harrison was in control of the fight in the first eight rounds, using his powerful jab and right hand to get the better of Nelson. However, in the 8th round, Nelson started to come alive, nailing Harrison with hard shots, and walking him down. Harrison looked tired at that point, and he should have backed off and used his movement to keep away from Nelson’s powerful right hand shots, but instead he stayed right in front of Nelson in the 8th and 9th rounds, and took a lot of heavy blows to the head.
“I was going to take him to the deep waters,” Nelson said after the fight. “I know I got a lot to work on in letting my hands go. I want K9 [Cornelius Bundrage. I want [Erislandy] Lara. Whoever has a title, that’s who I want. Since everybody wants Floyd Mayweather Jr., give me him too.”
Before Nelson fights for a world title at 154, he needs to work on his work rate by him throwing more punches, staying more on the outside, and using his jab more frequently. Nelson has a good jab, but he just doesn’t use it enough. He also needs to throw a lot more punches. I’m not sure if it’s a stamina thing with him for why he doesn’t throw more shots, but whatever it is, he needs to fix the problem if he wants to get to the next level.
“I was pacing myself, but also trying to push it when I could,” Harrison said. “When I went down it was because he hit me behind my head and then when I got up I was looking at my team. I let the anxiety get to me. I felt the anxiousness to knock him out, got reckless and got caught with a shot. I felt like I was winning the whole fight with the game plan but I switched it up. I lost to a fighter that I shouldn’t have lost to tonight. I was supposed to do better. All props to Willie (Nelson) though. All fighters get hit and I’ll be back stronger than ever to get my career back on track. I want to thank Al Haymon and ESPN. My head is held high.”
Harrison is a very good fighter. He needs to focus on his defense more, because he was getting hit with a lot of silly shots by standing directly in front of the big punching Nelson. When you fight a guy with the kind of power and size that Nelson has, you don’t want to be standing in front of him like Harrison was.
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