STRENGTHS: Crowd-pleasing style: he makes for exciting scraps…. Likes to double up the left hook …. Dedication and conditioning: he maintains a Spartan training schedule and seldom, if ever, takes a day off … Has good skills and mobility…. The sharp puncher possesses good hand speed with power.

WEAKNESSES: Is inconsistent … Can let himself be outworked …. Tends to stray south of the border with his punches, and has been penalized a few times for low blows….

Vivian Harris was born into a boxing family. However, nothing prepared him for the events of Sept. 29, 2000, when he was mugged and stabbed in the stomach by robbers on his way to Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, N.Y. Following the incident, Harris was rushed to a local hospital and underwent surgery to stop internal bleeding.

"I live in Brooklyn, on 96th and Church Street," Harris said. "That day I was in Flatbush. I was by myself on the way to the gym and I stopped at a grocery store to buy something to drink. When I got out, three guys were waiting for me at my car. They jumped me and robbed my bracelet. I struggled with them and tried to retaliate, and then I got stabbed with a knife below my nipples. I jumped into my car and drove to the hospital. I was in there for a few days. Thank God it was just a little stab. They had to cut me open to make sure that everything was okay. I had some surgery, but I was all right. ''

Harris had lived in New York for six years, after relocating from Guyana when he was 16 years old. Five years earlier, his brother, Wayne Harris, a former world title contender, took him to the gym for the first time. "My father promotes boxing in Guyana, so I had always been around it," Harris said. "I used to play soccer a lot, but my older brother, Wayne, who fought Reggie Johnson, taught me how to fight.

"I did really well against other fighters in the gym, and quickly realized that I liked training and staying fit. I loved the discipline part of boxing. I also loved it when kids could see me doing something positive. I love kids, and enjoy spending time with them. I want to feed the kids in my country when I go home."

Harris, who went 45-5 in the amateurs, was a three-time Guyanan junior champion from 1991-93, and was selected as Guyana's top amateur in '93. In 1997, he captured both the New York Metros and Golden Gloves championships. "I always had a pro style," Harris said. "I never fought like an amateur."

Harris turned pro at age 19 on Nov. 4, 1997, in Tunica, Miss., and made short work of Levi Long by dispatching of his opponent in the opening round.

The Guyana native won his other rookie start, and continued his winning ways by going 9-0 in 1998. In the final start of his sophomore campaign, Harris floored Shawn Brown (8-1 going in) three times en route to a sixth-round TKO.

After scoring three knockdowns and stopping Jerry Smith in the first round on Feb. 20, 1999, in New York City, Harris came back less than two months later on April 16 to score a second-round TKO over Puerto Rican veteran Hector Arroyo (18-6-2 going in). Harris was cut by the right eye, but scored a knockdown in the second and Arroyo could not answer the bell for the third.

On June 19, 1999, in New York, Harris went the distance for just the second time in 14 fights when he won every round en route to an eight-round unanimous decision over former Dominican Republic champion Damian Brazoban (12-3 going in).

In his final 1999 outing, Harris earned one of his best victories when he registered a 10-round unanimous decision against fellow-Guyanan Gary St. Clair (17-1-1) on Dec. 10 in Philadelphia. Harris maintained a busier pace, landed the sharper punches and had the edge in most rounds as he won by the scores 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92. "The fight against St. Clair represented the first time I had been 10 full rounds," Harris said. "So, looking back, that fight was a good one for me. I learned a lot. I enjoyed fighting in Philadelphia. The ring is small, so you cannot run anywhere.''

After starting out 16-0, Harris suffered the only blemishes on his record to date in 2000 when he went 0-1-1. The hard-hitting junior welterweight's lone loss came on a 10-round unanimous decision to local favorite Ray Oliveira (37-7-1 going in) on Feb. 25, 2000, in Cranston, R.I. The judges scored it 97-93 twice, and 98-93. "I have no excuses," Harris said. "Oliveira is a good fighter, but I was not prepared. My training camp was bad. I did not have any sparring partners. I did not even have a trainer for that fight."

In his next start on Aug. 11, 2000, in Atlantic City, N.J., Harris was victimized by the old New Jersey scoring system and had to settle for a disputed 10-round draw with Ivan Robinson (29-4 going in).

Despite getting knocked down in the third round when his glove touched the canvas, and penalized one point in the eighth when he lost his mouthpiece for the fourth time in the fight, Harris scored effectively in an exciting match that many observers thought he deserved to win.

The three judges individually scored it for Harris, 96-93, 95-93 and 95-94, but New Jersey's "majority" scoring added up to a 94-94 draw. The New Jersey commission report on itself states that the boxer who accumulates the most points (the combined totals of all three scorecards) should be declared the winner, and Harris had the edge, 286-280.

Co-manager Lou Duva made an appeal to the commission to overturn the decision, but was denied. New Jersey, however, has since gone back to the conventional scoring system.

"Robinson was tough, and it was a good fight, but I definitely beat him," Harris said. "Everyone saw it. I won every round of that fight, including the third. When the result was announced, I was in shock for a minute. I felt really bad. I trained for three months. It is hard to train so hard for a fight, win it and then have the judges take it away from you.''

After suffering through a winless 2000, Harris has gone 5-0.

In his first fight since he got mugged and stabbed, Harris returned to form and stopped Arroyo on May 19, 2001, in a rematch from Uncasville, Conn. The fully recovered fighter scored two knockdowns before the bout was stopped at 2:06.

Less than one month later on June 15, 2001, Harris flattened former North American Boxing Federation (NABF) champion Golden Johnson in the third round. After going down from a left hook in the third, Johnson held his glove to his right eye and went to one knee. He was counted out at 2:12.

Harris closed out 2001 by winning a controversial 10-round split decision over Jose Juarez (11-3-1) on Sept. 22 in Las Vegas.

In an exciting fight that featured a number of momentum changes, Harris rocked Juarez a few times in the third round. Juarez, however, scored a knockdown and hurt Harris badly in the fourth. At the finish, Harris got the nod by the scores 95-94, 97-92 and 94-95, as the crowd booed the announcement of the controversial decision. "The fight against Juarez was tough," Harris said. "He was strong. He caught me with a good shot, but I got up to win. Going down was a good learning experience for me. I learned that I cannot just go into a fight looking to knock my opponent out."

In his 2002 debut, Harris captured the International Boxing Association (IBA) 140-pound title with a decisive 12-round unanimous decision over hometown favorite Michael Clark (26-1 going in) on Feb. 22 in Columbus, Ohio. Harris took complete control of the bout early on when a picture perfect right hand dropped Clark in the first minute. Clark also went down later in the opening round, and once each in the second and seventh. Harris also floored his opponent in the sixth and 12th rounds with low blows, and was penalized one point in the final round, but still managed to win by the scores 115-108 twice and 112-111.

The newly crowned champion retained his crown in his most recent start by outpointing Ubaldo Hernandez across 12 rounds on July 16, 2002, from Canton, Ohio.

When asked about his upcoming world title challenge against Diosbelys Hurtado Oct. 19 on SHOWTIME, Harris said, "I am going to win the belt. This is the time for me to win a world title.'' If the time is right and he is triumphant, Harris would like to take on Kostya Tszyu.

"My style would be complicated for Tszyu because he does not have any defense," Harris said. "Tszyu is tough, but beatable. If you let him back you up, it is over. However, if you take the fight to Tszyu, you can beat him.''