Harrison's fights with Medina were learning fights

The REAL McCoy · Post by **The REAL McCoy** » 12 Jan 2004, 18:26

When you think about it, Harrisons fights with Medina were learning fights, & were fights that will do Scott no harm at all in the future

Scott Harrison has only had 23 fights, & just because he holds a version of the world title(albeit a lesser version) it doesnt mean that he is the finished article as a fighter

You will notice that all of the top featherweights have had more fights than Scott, this is how many fights the top feathers have had

Barrera-61
Tapia-58
Ayala-37
Gainer-46
Chi-30
Brodie-37
Polo-39
Pacquiao-41
Marquez-44
Abelyan-28

Compare that to Scott Harrison, & you will realise that Scott has achieved quite a lot in his short career so far in a red hot division & is definitely still learning

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 12 Jan 2004, 18:39

I agree. Many champs have lost early in their reign, won the title back, and then enjoyed long reigns. Leonard lost his title early to Duran, for example, but it made him a much better fighter. Harrison, too, will be a better fighter for his fights with the tough Medina. My only worry: how long can he keep dragging his body down to nine stone!

The REAL McCoy · Post by **The REAL McCoy** » 12 Jan 2004, 19:03

bennie wrote:I agree. Many champs have lost early in their reign, won the title back, and then enjoyed long reigns. Leonard lost his title early to Duran, for example, but it made him a much better fighter. Harrison, too, will be a better fighter for his fights with the tough Medina. My only worry: how long can he keep dragging his body down to nine stone!

Yeah, its always gonna be a worry for Scott trying to get down to 9 stone, & it will only get harder the older he gets

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 12 Jan 2004, 20:34

bennie wrote:I agree. Many champs have lost early in their reign, won the title back, and then enjoyed long reigns. Leonard lost his title early to Duran, for example, but it made him a much better fighter. Harrison, too, will be a better fighter for his fights with the tough Medina. My only worry: how long can he keep dragging his body down to nine stone!

Yes, although not early in his reign Marco Barerra was around the same age when he lost to Junior Jones - he came back a better fighter (IMO).

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 12 Jan 2004, 20:48

Good point Stu. Plenty of world champions have lost halfway through a title reign, such as Norris, Napoles, Orono, Serrano, Mando Ramos, Honeyghan, Roman, Manuel Ortiz, Carlos Ortiz, Gianfranco Rosi, Tszyu, Barrera, Starling, etc - and had another good run as champ when winning it back.

The REAL McCoy · Post by **The REAL McCoy** » 13 Jan 2004, 17:39

stujones wrote:
bennie wrote:I agree. Many champs have lost early in their reign, won the title back, and then enjoyed long reigns. Leonard lost his title early to Duran, for example, but it made him a much better fighter. Harrison, too, will be a better fighter for his fights with the tough Medina. My only worry: how long can he keep dragging his body down to nine stone!
Yes, although not early in his reign Marco Barerra was around the same age when he lost to Junior Jones - he came back a better fighter (IMO).

No doubt Barrera has became a better fighter after his two losses to Junior Jones

If Barrera had called it a day after those defeats he wouldnt be in possesion of his one way ticket to the hall of fame

But what really did annoy McCoy & take away the joy was that when Hamed was beaten by Barrera, he seemed to lose his heart & desire

Sure, he fought Calvo afterwards & was slated for his performance, but some people forgot that although calvo was far from great, he WAS a European champion, & Hamed won a wide, easy decision against him

At times Hamed looked terrible in the fight, but that could also have been down to ring inactivity, but who knows how he would have looked after that fight, maybe he could have regained a version of the world title, & had a longer, more successful reign just like the fighters Bennie mentioned above

However, it looks like that question will never be answered...

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 13 Jan 2004, 19:16

The REAL McCoy wrote:
stujones wrote:
bennie wrote:I agree. Many champs have lost early in their reign, won the title back, and then enjoyed long reigns. Leonard lost his title early to Duran, for example, but it made him a much better fighter. Harrison, too, will be a better fighter for his fights with the tough Medina. My only worry: how long can he keep dragging his body down to nine stone!
Yes, although not early in his reign Marco Barerra was around the same age when he lost to Junior Jones - he came back a better fighter (IMO).
No doubt Barrera has became a better fighter after his two losses to Junior Jones

If Barrera had called it a day after those defeats he wouldnt be in possesion of his one way ticket to the hall of fame

But what really did annoy McCoy & take away the joy was that when Hamed was beaten by Barrera, he seemed to lose his heart & desire

Sure, he fought Calvo afterwards & was slated for his performance, but some people forgot that although calvo was far from great, he WAS a European champion, & Hamed won a wide, easy decision against him

At times Hamed looked terrible in the fight, but that could also have been down to ring inactivity, but who knows how he would have looked after that fight, maybe he could have regained a version of the world title, & had a longer, more successful reign just like the fighters Bennie mentioned above

However, it looks like that question will never be answered...

Some fighters have got that extra something that bottle to come back when the chips are down. Harrison has already done this, as did Paul Ingle before him.

Hamed I'm afraid didn't have the heart of a lion that he proffesed that he did..... Not having a go, he's a multimillionaire - so why get hurt. I'm annoyed that he didn't comeback when he promised to - remember Merchant asked him, what about Morales? Hamed's reply "No, I want Barerra".

He just didn't have the bottle.