`Vicious’ Vivian Harris will move up to the more lucrative welterweight division as soon as he becomes undisputed junior welterweight champion.
“As soon as I unify the titles I’m off to the welterweight category. My dream is to unify the titles and as soon as I do that, I’ll go up,” Harris said at the Hotel Tower yesterday.
“I’ll go up there and unify the welterweight division also. I’m very serious about what I do and I very serious when I say that I’ll unify the titles.”
Harris is back home on a one week vacation and will be returning to the USA on Thursday. On October 19, he became the youngest Guyanese ever to win a world title and the only boxer from this country to hold two world crowns when he stopped then champion Diobelys Hurtardo in the second round.
The victory announced the Guyanese as a serious threat to the reign of undisputed champion Kostya Tszyu and underlined his stone-fist credentials.
He disclosed that he plans bowing out while at the top of the sport that has made him a household name in Guyana and across the USA.
The 24-year-old power puncher hinted that once he takes care of the best in the two divisions he will be comfortable enough to call it a day.
“I’m in my prime right now and that’s why I want to fight the best out there.
I’m at my best. So, if I fight the best now, then maybe Vivian Harris wouldn’t have to stay in boxing too long. When I signed to fight Hurtardo a lot of people felt that I shouldn’t have taken it. I went and I took him out in two. Right now I feel that I should take on Kostya Tszyu.”
Harris explained that at the moment his handlers are trying to see if they can work around French man Souleyman Mbaye in order to get at the perceived tougher Sharmba Mitchell who defeated Vince Phillips last Saturday night. “We were looking to fight the winner of the fight between Phillips and Mitchell.”
Harris said that he watched the fight which was televised on Showtime but was not impressed.
“I think that people are just hyping up some junior welterweights and matching them up. It’s a lot of politics but if you put them against the real fighters then you’ll see who the real persons are. Let’s just look at Kostya Tszyu, he is going to fight Jesse James Leija. That’s no test for Tszyu. Then people want to say that Tszyu is the best because he knocked out Zab Judah and beat Mitchell.
The best is Vivian Harris. I don’t respect any of the other junior welterweights. They are hyped up fighters. The other junior welterweight fighters are different from me. I stay strong from one to 12 and I hit hard from one to 12. I see some of these guys getting weak after the sixth round,” the gangly world champion said.
However, when pressed, Harris pointed to Auturo Gatti and Micky Ward as two of the better fighters in the division which is deep with talent.
Harris explained that he learns from every bout even the abbreviated fight against Hurtardo. “Although my fight with Hurtardo went only two rounds I learnt a lot. I know that I have to always train hard, stay focused, be humble and never let things get to me. I studied Hurtardo and that’s what I’m gonna do for all of my other opponents. There are many things that have played a part in me reaching this far. My new girlfriend, the stabbing incident that happened two years ago, my defeat and many other things. I think that now I’m a more humble person. I’m more relaxed now and focusing on making my dreams a reality. Before I would just fight for the love of boxing. It’s much different now.”
He still rates his 10-round decision over compatriot Gary St Clair as his toughest bout to date. “I went into that fight with emotions. I wanted to knock out Gary. When you go into a bout with anger for an opponent it makes the fight more tough. So that was it with me and Gary.”
Harris said that he detected a change in the way some people treat him since he became world champion. “I was always treated with respect since that is the way I carried myself. Some folks have started showing me more love now but I think I know where that is coming from.”
He advised young fighters to stick with it. “It’s hard. Especially in a country like Guyana. I know that the amateur fighters are having a rough time. You don’t fight for money and almost nobody gives you anything. You really have to stay focused. Where there is sadness there is happiness.
The longest and toughest journey begins with the first step. Once you stay focused you will make it. If you have a plan you can never struggle all the days of your life. What has happened is that many of the amateur fighters they go through a little struggle and wanna run to become professionals. That is not the way out.”