Tony Harrison will gladly embrace the underdog role that comes with his upcoming clash with Tim Tszyu.
What the former WBC junior middleweight titlist can’t accept, however, is the argument that he will be facing a superior boxer when they meet.
“To be honest, Tim is a tough fighter but… it’s literally like, he’s so basic to me,” Harrison told The Last Stand podcast host Brian Custer. “He’s just somebody I see around the block. He’s somebody I see… when I fight somebody at the park. There’s nothing special about him.
“His defense is not stellar. His offense ain’t stellar. He’s just a very tough competitor.”
The two will meet on March 12 at a location to be determined in Australia. It will take place during the day in-country, which will allow for primetime viewing in the states on Saturday, March 11 given the time difference.
Neither fighter has been in the ring since last spring.
Tszyu (21-0, 15KOs) made his stateside debut in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over 2012 U.S. Olympian and former title challenger Terrel Gausha last March 26 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Australia’s Tszyu was floored in the opening round but controlled the action for the balance of the fight to prevail by scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 116-111 in their Showtime-televised main event.
The second-generation boxer—whose father Kostya is a Hall of Fame-enshrined former undisputed junior welterweight champion—was due to next challenge undisputed 154-pound king Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19KOs) as the WBO number-one contender on January 28 in Las Vegas. Charlo suffered a broken hand which caused a delay, and prompted Tszyu to seek a formidable opponent for a stay-busy affair while awaiting a rescheduled date.
The search led to Harrison (29-3-1, 21KOs), who has fought just twice in more than three years since the end of his year-long title reign. The Detroit native outpointed Charlo over twelve rounds in their December 2018 meeting, and suffered an eleventh-round knockout defeat in their December 2019 rematch.
Harrison has since fought to a twelve-round draw with Bryant Perrella in their April 2021 Fox-televised bout, before returning to the win column with a ten-round win over Spain’s Sergio Garcia last April 9. Harrison won by scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 98-92 to advance to the top contender spot in the WBC junior middleweight rankings.
The 32-year-old boxer jumped at the opportunity to face Tszyu once he was offered the fight, confident of picking up where he left off in his previous outing last spring.
“I think my last fight was just preparation for the same kind of guy I’m fighting,” insisted Harrison. “I fought Sergio Garcia who does the same exact shit. So why wouldn’t I take this fight?
“I just wiped out Garcia who fought [interim WBC 154-pound titlist Sebastian] Fundora. He had a tough fight with Fundora and I wiped him out. Why wouldn’t I take it? I’m fighting the exact same person.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox