No love lost between Jermell Charlo and Tony Harrison
Prior to his fight with Bryant “Goodfella” Perrella (17-3-1, 14 KO’s), former world champion Tony “Super Bad” Harrison (28-3-1, 21 KO’s) did not consider him to be an elite fighter. In fact, that is one of the main reasons why he chose him as an opponent. The Detroit native had been out of the ring for more than a year and was looking to get active and shake off some rust. Had he not been idle for so long, he would have sought out what he considered to be stiffer competition. When he actually fought Perrella however, things did not go quite as planned.
Once in the ring, Perrella proved to be more than a handful. Throughout the night he was more aggressive, had the higher output and appeared to buzz Harrison more than once. Due to this, the majority of folks who watched the bout were adamant that Goodfella should have walked away with the win. Instead Harrison was gifted with a rather undeserving draw. True, a draw is better than being served a loss. Yet it is still a bitter outcome. Given the politics of boxing, that was probably done because of the two, Super Bad is the bigger, more well-known fighter.
I TELL YA MAMA YOU AIN’T SHIT!
Just because the judges had mercy on Harrison, this does not mean that the boxing public will; or his fellow boxers! Unsurprisingly, WBA Super, IBF and WBC World Super Welterweight champion Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (34-1, 18 KO’s) was quick to voice his opinion on the matter. Harrison and Charlo shared the professional dance floor on two occasions. When they first met on December 22, 2018, Super Bad prevailed by way of unanimous decision.
Naturally, the hot-tempered Charlo vigorously disagreed with what he felt was a bogus outcome. Before he could leave the arena the night of the fight, he clamored for a rematch. Almost a year to the day, he got that rematch and defeated Harrison by eleventh round knockout. For Charlo, the win was both vindication and proof that Super Bad was never better than him. Since their pair of bouts, Iron Man has continued to ridicule Harrison and toss dirt on his name. So following the dubious draw, Charlo wasted little time in airing his opinion on the matter.
BACK ON A BRICK WALL
It will be interesting to see what Harrison does in his next move. Personally, this scribe believes it would be the most prudent choice to rematch Perrella. Similar to Charlo, if he feels that he is truly the superior specimen then demonstrate that in the ring. Provided he does win convincingly, then the subpar performance can truly be written off to the inactivity. Obviously if he loses then things become more complicated and bleak.
If Super Bad opts to sidestep a rematch, he better shoot for someone high on the food chain…and look good in doing so! This is because no matter how you slice it, like a wanted poster, Harrison’s back is firmly pressed to the wall. If he does not win his next bout, regardless of who it is, in impressive fashion, Charlo’s charge of being a fraudulent fighter will begin to ring eerily true. Yet, that is just the way it is in the cutthroat world of boxing. So let’s see how Super Bad escapes this precarious situation…if he can.
By: Bakari Simpson
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