Tony Harrison’s Speaks on Year Off and Charlo Rematch!
The supreme grudge match between Tony “Super Bad” Harrison (28-2, 21 KO’s) and Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (32-1, 16 KO’s) is fast approaching. On December 21, WBC junior middleweight champion Harrison will rematch his bitter rival in the Toyota Arena located in Ontario, California.
The fiery feud will air live on FOX at 8:00 PM ET.
THE BIRTH OF A BEEF
When the two initially went head-to-head, there was not a smidgen of the current animosity that presently clouds the air. Naturally there was a great deal of competitiveness, but nothing near the rancor that drips off the two men now.
For Harrison, the nearly tangible vitriol began during the post-fight interview. It was then that Charlo claimed that Super Bad admitted to him that he’d actually lost the contest.
As would be expected, Harrison completely denies this and has charged his rival with being a liar.
Charlo first was filled with his heated rage when he lost the belt on all of the judges’ scorecards; cards that he vigorously disagrees with. Although, his animosity did not charge up to “super saiyan” levels until Harrison pulled out of their previously scheduled rematch.
When the WBC champion pulled the rug from beneath the rematch, he did so citing an ankle injury as the reason.
From the moment that he heard about the injury, the former champion has gone out of his way to insist that he does not believe it to be true.
ANKLE ANGST AND ANIMOSITY
Truthfully speaking, the ankle has become a rather large portion of these two athletes’ story line. So much so that Harrison’s nerves have become fried and raw due to the amount of questions he been posed regarding his ankle.
Even on stage during their final presser, the Detroit boxer was clearly irritated when it was brought up. Harrison maintained the same agitated energy when conducting an interview with Fight Hub TV. In his world view, the fact that he is here, signed to the fight and ready to go should be answer enough for all the pervasive questions. The public and media seem to disagree!
“For everyone to stop asking me this question, I’m the ultimate competitor. If I’m not 100% you wouldn’t even catch me here right now.
“If I’m not fit to fight, if I’m not fit to win…then I’m not going to do it!
“My body’s telling me right now it’s nothing more challenging right now, nothing more fiery than my mental right now to fight again right now.
“I’m fired up and all he did was fire me up a little with this shit on stage and I’m fired man, I’m ready to go!”
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Aside from the ankle, numerous boxing fans have openly questioned whether inactivity will be an adverse issue for Harrison. Even though this is an immediate rematch for him, Harrison has remained out of the ring for a solid year.
This is not the case for Charlo. Since their first dust-up, Iron Man has fought, and knocked out, Jorge Cota. That bout took place in the summer of 2019.
Despite the seemingly long layoff, Harrison is not sweating it. In fact, not only is he not worried about it, the WBC junior middleweight champion is grateful. Including his amateur days, Harrison has been boxing non-stopped for about 20 consecutive years. With all that time and dedication, he has amassed a fair amount of wear and tear. So, in his estimation, the time off was of great benefit.
“It hurt me but it kind of helped me too. I was kind of getting tired of pounding my body and pounding the pavement for the pennies that I was kind of getting, you know what I mean?
“So it’s been good man. I got a time to enjoy life for once and not get ready to jump up and get ready for another training camp.
“So I got time to enjoy my family and enjoy the people around me, relish being a champ for a year and now we back here to do it one more time. It was definitely refreshing.
“I been going back to back to back for about 20 years.”
It will be interesting to see how Super Bad performs in his upcoming match. Along with feeling rejuvenated, Harrison insists he is bringing more dog to this fight.
Rather than utilizing the elusive style that he did in the first go around, Harrison is adamant that he will sit down on his punches and trade more with Charlo. If he is true to those sentiments, the December 21 prizefight will certainly be a war!
3kingsboxing will definitely stay on top of this antagonistic dust-up!
By: Bakari Simpson
