Tony Harrison is convinced that Tim Tszyu lacks the boxing skills to defeat him in their headliner this Saturday night on Showtime at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Former WBC junior middleweight champion Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KOs) admires Tszyu’s toughness, but he feels that’s not going to be enough to beat him.
Harrison’s problem is that despite having a lot of talent, he’s tended to gas out when fighting pressure fighters. If he gasses out against Tszyu, he won’t see the 12th.
Will Tszyu’s toughness carry him to victory?
Tony Harrison: “When it comes down to skills, you don’t need to be the most skilled to win fights,” said Tony Harrison to FOX Sports Australia when asked about his view of Tim Tszyu’s boxing skills.
“Sometimes, you’ve got to have other attributes to help you win fights. He’s a tough guy. He’s a tough little cookie. It’s passed down from his father; he’s a tough cookie. So he doesn’t have to have the best skills.
“His skills are totally beneath me. 100,000 totally beneath me, but does he have other attributes that are tougher than mine? Toughness and pace and stuff like that? Yeah, he can win fights like that.
“Will it be enough to win this fight? It won’t. It’s not. You’ve got to have everything. Once you get to the championship, you’ve got to have more than toughness and punching ability to punch as many times as you can punch. It comes with a little more.
“You’ve got to dig in your bag. He doesn’t have a bag to dig in because he never had to dig in one. This time, he’s got to dig in that bag and find that. He’s got to find that this time,” said Harrison.
Tim Tszyu: “In my opinion, Harrison beat Charlo, and he’s a much more skilled fighter than Charlo,” said Tszyu. “I even think he’s a more skilled boxer than Hurd. “As you know, boxing isn’t just one thing. It’s a range of things.
“I think he’s underestimating my skills. I really think he’s underestimating.”
Harrison: “At what level?”
Tszyu: “At every level. If you think I’m just a basic fighter, it isn’t like that. I think in Australia, we have that persona of just being tough, but I don’t feel like I’m just a tough fighter. If I need to dig deep, I feel like I’ve got it.”
Is Tony Harrison in for a shock?
Harrison: “He showed me nothing other than toughness when I see him fight. When he lives up to the same persona of Australians. He shows me nothing else but being tough. If that’s the persona everyone has of Australians, he shows me nothing else other than being an Australian fighter.”
Tszyu: “Shock. Shock. If he’s underestimating my skills and thinks I’m just toughness, then yeah, it’s going to be a bit of a shock. Every opponent actually,” said Tim when asked if he’s heard similar things about him from his other opponents.
“No, it doesn’t annoy me. Yeah, he believes that. In all honesty, I do agree with certain things, like I do show my toughness. Every fight is different. You can fight like this against an opponent. I’ve just been fighting tough opponents. So for me, I just have to walk through them.
“This is a skillful boxer in front of me, which I haven’t been able to show. I get the opportunity to show my skills in front of a skillful opponent.”
Harrison: “When I did my interview with you in New York, I said I like you. I don’t know who I like more between you two guys. In all honesty, when I hear Tim talk, he’s more realistic with himself than any other opponent. They’ll probably get mad at me for the stuff I’m saying, but what I’m saying is realistic.
“It’s not like I’m far-fetched with what I’m saying that he got to jump the boat to fight for every belt. It’s not like I’m realistically saying he shows me nothing but toughness. I’m realistic with what I’m talking about. I’m not just talking out the side of neck.
“A lot of people think I’m just talking out the side of my neck, but I’m realistic with what I say. It’s calculated. I understand he’s balls to the wall. He has nothing to lose, but once again, all the pressure is on him. I’ve been there.
Harrison wants to spoil the party
“This whole stadium is for him. I’m coming to wreck the party. This party shouldn’t be going on around here. I’m raiding the party. This party isn’t for me. This party is for Tim to show how good Tim is. I want to kick the door in.
“No pressure on me. I got my flip-flops on. There ain’t no pressure on me. This is fun for me. Fighting is fun for me. I’ve been fighting my whole life. I’m from Detroit. Fighting is fun for me. This ain’t no pressure for me. It’s pressure for him.
“I want to see what he’s about. As competitive as he is, I’m probably 10 times more competitive. We can go play basketball. rugby, anything.”
Tszyu: “I got you in basketball.”
Harrison: “First things first, he’s going to understand why I beat the man [Jermell Charlo] that’s the man. He’s going to understand why I beat the guy that’s the guy. I’m better, I’m smarter, I’m quick. I’m reactive. I come from the tutelage of the best, Ali, Emanuel Steward, and Detroit.
“I’ve sparred the best, and that’s part of my preparation of getting here by always fighting the best. I was 17 years old, and I sparred with Andy Lee, Adonis Stevenson, Kermit Cintron, Lewis Collazo, and K-9 Bundrage, Chad Dawson. I was a pup. There’s nothing he can do that I haven’t seen.
“I sparred guys that were tough. There’s no way he can knock the spark out of me. There’s no way. I can go to any city, state, or country and find a guy that can mimic you. That’s what I mean by average.
“You can’t mimic me. I’m one of a kind. I’m a diamond in the rough.”
Tszyu: “On Sunday night, we’ll see. I want to hear him talk after the fight. He can say whatever he wants. I think it’s letting the world know who I am, and it’s the best opportunity in the biggest stadium of them all against a worthy opponent.”
Harrison: “I needed to motivate him. I needed to wake up the management and everyone up around him. I wasn’t just waking him up. I need to wake everybody up. So when I’m speaking, I’m speaking to Tim Tszyu’s team,” said Harrison.
