By Sam Volz: Tony Harrison reached out and hugged Tim Tszyu in their first face-off ahead of their match two weeks from now on March 12th for the interim WBO junior middleweight title at the Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia.
Tszyu looked surprised by the hug from Harrison, but he immediately seemed to realize that the American was playing a trick on him, so he pulled back, feigning throwing punches to the midsection of the Detroit native.
What was notifiable when the two fighters were standing in close was how much bigger Harrison was than Tszyu. He’s got a significant size advantage that could play a factor in this fight if he can keep Tszyu on the outside.
“I feel amazing,” Harrison said to the media. “Tim has caught me at the right time. Wrong time for him, right time for me.”
That might be Harrison’s best chance of winning because if he goes to war with Tszyu, the chances are high that he’ll get worn down by the pace and his heavy shots.
If Harrison were still an active fighter, you’d give him more of a chance of winning, but he’s fought only twice in the last four years. When you’re that inactive and facing one of the biggest punchers in the 154-lb division, it’s difficult to see a way for Harrison to win this fight apart from scoring an early knockout, which he’s quite capable of doing if he lets his hands go and goes all out.
The former WBC 154-lb champion Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KOs) appeared to be attempting to lull the still green 28-year-old Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) into believing that he’s his friend, so he’ll subconsciously go easy on him during the fight, and not go all out the way he otherwise would.
For the sly old fox Harrison, that might be all he needs is for Tszyu to fight at half or three-quarter power to build up a big lead and then coast to victory in the championship rounds. It’s well documented that Harrison’s three defeats in his twelve-year pro career have come late in his fights after he gassed out against Willie Nelson, Jarrett Hurd, and Jermell Charlo.
Tszyu says Harrison “looks fragile”
“He knows that’s not going to happen; if it goes past four, he’s going to be in trouble,” Tsyzu said via Foxsports.
“My aim is to grab him by the neck and pull him down into the ocean and just let him sink – drown him,” Tszyu continued about Harrison. “It will start from Round 1, and we’ll see when he gets some air.
“He’s tall, but my sparring partners are much taller; he looks fragile. You can just see it, I’ve been sparring big, strong unbreakable blokes, and he looks like I could crack him in half.”
