Tony Harrison was mostly complimentary of Tim Tszyu during a press conference held to promote and discuss their upcoming fight.
However, the former WBC junior middleweight champ was quick to suggest a touch of privilege has been enjoyed along the way by his upcoming adversary.
“I’m not knocking him being tough,” Harrison noted. “But when you look at my role and the obstacles I had to jump over. I mean, he took the elevator. I took the stairs. Somebody make it make sense to me.”
The two have arrived at the same destination, as top contenders for the undisputed 154-pound championship currently held by Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19KOs).
Harrison is ranked number-one with the WBC, whose title he won from and lost to Charlo in their two-fight series exactly 52 weeks apart from December 2018-December 2019.
Tszyu (21-0, 15KOs)—whose father Kostya is a Hall of Fame former undisputed junior welterweight champion—is the mandatory challenger for the WBO and was due to face Charlo, who was forced to postpone their scheduled January 28 Showtime main event from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas after he broke his left hand during a pre-Christmas holiday sparring session. Tszyu insisted on being granted a stay-busy affair, which was approved by the WBO as an interim title fight contingent upon his facing the highest ranked available challenger.
It turned out to be Detroit’s Harrison (29-3-1, 21KOs), who recently landed in Sydney as the two will meet on March 12 at Qudos Bank Arena.
Tszyu—who hails from Rockdale, a southern Sydney suburb—was named the WBO junior middleweight mandatory challenger in August 2021, one month after Charlo and then-WBO champ Brian Castano (17-1-2, 12KOs) fought to a split-decision draw in their July 2021 unification bout. Two more fights followed as Tszyu waited out their rematch, eventually won by Charlo via tenth-round knockout last May 14 in Carson, California.
Harrison is the only fighter to hang a loss on Charlo, doing so in a December 2018 unanimous decision victory to claim the WBC 154-pound title. It came after he suffered two prior stoppage defeats at the hands of Willie Nelson in July 2015 and then-unbeaten Jarrett Hurd in their February 2017 vacant title fight. The latter was followed by a three-fight win streak to make his way back to title contention.
An injury suffered by Harrison postponed their June 2019 rematch to later that December, which saw Charlo avenge his lone career defeat and regain his title with an eleventh-round knockout of Harrison.
The post-title run has not been as kind to the 32-year-old contender, who has just fought twice since the pandemic. Harrison was held to a twelve-round draw with Bryant Perrella in April 2021, before he resurfaced with a convincing ten-round win over Sergio Garcia last April 9 in Las Vegas.
“How did he get there- he beat everyone in his backyard,” Harrison questioned, rhetorically. “You know how big his backyard is? This is how big (holds fingers close together). You know how big the backyard is that I’m fighting in?
“I didn’t beat everyone in Detroit. I beat everyone in the United States. I’m just real. I’m not jiving, I’m just being real.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox