NEW YORK, NY (CMC) - Guyanese-born World Boxing Association (WBA) junior welterweight champion ‘Vicious’ Vivian Harris has been talking tough, since he defeated Turkey’s Oktay Urkal by majority decision on April 17 in Germany.
Harris does not believe that there is any boxer who can take his title from him at the moment and dares any of the junior welterweights to try.
“If they think they’re ready, they can come on,” Harris told BoxingInsider.com. “I’m saying I’m ready. I’ve been ready and my title is not going anywhere.
“I’m ready for any of the junior welterweights out there that think they’re ready for Vivian Harris. I’m ready to put anything up. I’m ready.
“I don’t even want to call fighters’ names out because it doesn’t make sense. When you call fighters out, you don’t get the fights. It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve been calling a lot of fighters out and I don’t get any of the fights.”
Harris indicated that he would like to make another title defence in July and his favoured opponent is Miguel Cotto.
After four years of being the best amateur boxer in Puerto Rico, the 24-year-old Cotto (19-0, 16 KOs) made a very impressive leap into the professional ranks in February last year.
“Right now, I just have to sit back with my promoters and my manager and see what they have next for me,” he said.
“But Cotto doesn’t want to step up to the plate. I’m thinking about him. Focusing on him for whenever he’s ready. But I don’t think he’s ready yet.”
Reflecting on the Urkal fight, Harris felt it was a good fight and he felt very comfortable in Germany, where he was fighting outside of the United States for the first time.
“I train hard and I do what I have to do,” he said. “I'll go anywhere and fight. If the price is right, I have no problem. I don’t stress on the negatives. I’m a positive person. I think positive. And I do what I have to do.
“The Germans treated me well. I think they respect top athletes a great lot. They treated me with a lot of respect. I had my own security guard and they still gave me security guards. Everything was first class. Like I said, they respect top athletes.”
Harris commented that Urkal was a strong fighter and he takes a lot of hard punches.
“He’s a very determined fighter and he came to win, but I wanted it more,” he said. “I was more determined. I was in better shape. It was my title. And I wanted to keep my title.
“I just thank God for giving me that beautiful win. And I’m ready for whatever I have coming up. And again, I want to thank everybody who’s believing in Vivian Harris.”