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By Sam Volz: A shirtless Tony Harrison played mindgames with Tim Tszyu and had him looked unsettled by the end of Thursday’s final press conference for their fight this Saturday night at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

The former WBC junior middleweight champion Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KOs) said his rationale for coming to the press conference without his shirt is that he wanted Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) to see where he could punch him in his body during their fight.

Harrison said he didn’t want to catfish Tszyu by hiding something until fight night, so he showed off his body for him to “dream” about. That remark from Harrison got an embarrassed laugh out of Tszyu and started the process where he became steadily more flustered.

It was clear that Harrison was messing with Tszyu the entire time, saying odd things to get a reaction, and it worked to perfection. By the time the press conference was over, Harrison had full control of Tszyu’s emotions and was playing him like a fiddle.

It’ll be interesting to see if he can forget about all of this on fight night and fight the way he needs to for him to defeat Harrison.

Harrison wants Tszyu to witness his greatness

“Tim keeps talking about how skinny and frail I look. I just want Tim to visualize what you want to touch and what you want to break. I want you to see it,” said a shirtless Tony Harrison during Thursday’s final press conference with Tim Tszyu.

“What you see is what you get. I’m not hiding from you. I’m not catfishing. I came to show you exactly what you’re going to see. I want you to dream about me. ‘Ooh, I want to hit that spot right there,'” said Harrison.

“He’s a hungry fighter, of course. He definitely looks hungry for sure in every way possible,” said Tim Tszyu about Harrison. “He looks dry, but he looks ready. No, but that just sounds like excuses to me,” said Tszyu when told that Harrison thinks he’s expecting him to fade late.

“There’s no reason to blame certain losses on certain things. Take it on the chin and move on.”

“This means everything to him. I’m letting him witness my greatness,”  said Harrison. “I’m giving him the opportunity. This means everything for him. Fighting for me is fun.  I’ve been fighting every single day of my life.”

Harrison did look thin, but also very athletic and tall. It’s not hard to imagine that he’ll be looking to keep Tszyu bottled up on the outside on fight not, particularly if he feels uncomfortable with his power.

Harrison likely learned his lesson from his second fight with Jermell Charlo that he can’t afford to get in the trenches with power punchers, particularly when he’d already proven that he could beat him by boxing from the outside.

Tony says Tszyu resembled a “diva”

“I don’t think he had to endure half of what I had to endure. This fight for me is fun. Press conferences for me, is fun. I feel great. I don’t know what excuse he thinks I’m making, but I’m ready. He got out of that car like a diva.

“You got somebody to open the door for you. I’m not talking about what kind of suit you’ve got on. I said you got out of the car like a diva. You had someone open the door for you. Come on; he’s different. But like I said, I’m not knocking him.

“I’m the opposite. I got my hat cocked to the side, and he’s got a suit on. I ain’t mad at it. On Sunday night, we got to get on the same boat. Let’s see who makes it off,” said Harrison.

“All that star stuff doesn’t bother me,” said Tszyu. “I’ve been in this sport for a particular reason, so 28 years of this hard work all comes down to this moment.

“On Sunday night is when we shine. All of this stuff doesn’t matter. All this diva stuff with me coming in a car. I just roll with the punches. I just do it how it’s supposed to happen,” said Tszyu.

Tszyu doesn’t like Harrison

“I like him. I  don’t think he understands how corny he is, but I like him,” said Harrison. “That’s him. I’m not knocking him. That’s him, but l like him.”

“I don’t like him right now. I’m ready to fight no,” said Tszyu.

“He likes me,” said Harrison.

“There’s no kisses and hugs in what goes on in his world, but I’m coming here to fight. There’s a dog in me right now,” said Tszyu.

“We got a fight on our hands, but you like me,” said Harrison. “You like me.”

“Why would I like you? I’m going to fight you,” said Tszyu. “I’m going to punch you in the face in the next couple of days. Why would I like you?”

“I’m different. The whole of Australia likes me. I’m a hard guy not to love,” said Harrison. “It’s hard for you to say it right now.”

“You’re a funny guy; I’ll give you that one,” said Tszyu. “In all honesty, it’s not doing anything to me. I’m just solely focused. He’s a good talker, he’s a good banter type of guy. He’s got that bit of comedian in him. Everyone is different in which we do things and the way we approach and how we are personality-wise. Let him be him.

“Drown. I’m coming here in a dog fight, man. I’m going to try and repeat history for what happened in the past with him and drown him,” said Tszyu.

“The things he says, I already know how the fight is coming from round one to round twelve if he makes it that far,” said Harrison.

“You’re going to be in for a shock,” said Tszyu.

“I understand he’s going to drown this, and he’s going to hold my head underwater,” said Harrison. “He’s going to chain me to a brick and drop it into the ocean.”