By Brian Webber: Tony Harrison says the opposition that Tim Tszyu has fought to earn his #1 spot with the WBO at 154 has been “disgusting” ahead of their fight on March 11th for the interim belt at the Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia.
The former WBC junior middleweight champion Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KOs) isn’t bashful about letting his feelings know about the easy ride the 28-year-old Australian Tszyu has had to get to the top of the World Boxing Organization rankings to be knocking on the door for a title shot against undisputed champion Jermell Charlo.
Tszyu got to the mandatory position with wins over Terrell Gausha, Takeshi Inoue, Steve Spark, Dennis Hogan, Bowyn Morgan, and Jeff Horn. Those are the best wins on Tszyu’s seven-year professional resume.
In fairness to Tszyu, the 32-year-old Harrison’s resume is only a tad bit better, with just one notable win against Jermell Charlo in 2018, which many boxing fans felt was a gift decision for the Detroit native. Apart from that win, Harrison’s best victories in his twelve-year professional career have come against these fighters:
- Ishe Smith
- Sergio Garcia
- Sergey Rabchenko
- Bronco Mckart
- Grady Brewer
- Antwone Smith
Those fighters are arguably worse than the guys that Tszyu has beaten in the last three years, which makes Harrison a hypocrite or someone that is in denial about his weak resume.
The truth is, neither fighter has a strong resume, but that goes with the territory. It’s only recently that the 154-lb division has improved, with talented fighters coming up in weight from 147 and prospects emerging to replace the old timers that Harrison & Tszyu have subsisted on during their careers.
“I don’t know what my game plan is, but like what I’ve been telling everybody, expect the unexpected.
“I do see a lot of bad things that he does that’s not championship-level s**t,” Harrison continued about the 28-year-old Tszyu.
Harrison has lost to fighters that did “bad things” in terms of their skills, but they still beat him. Willie Nelson and Jarrett Hurt were both come-forward sluggers who would walk through shots to deliver their own bombs.
Neither would have been mistaken for being superb boxers with excellent boxing fundamentals, yet they both knocked out Harrison in the ninth round.
“The opponents you’ve faced have been s***y. We just judge you on the guys that you’ve fought; the guy you fought to get to the #1 spot is f***g disgusting.
“You saw me box and walk towards Jermell [Charlo] the second time, so expect the unexpected,” said Harrison.
