BoxRec

GL: Not a lot of people in America got to see your fight with Junior Witter. What went wrong and why didn't you come home with the title? "First I would like to thank God for getting me back home safe in the United States. It was a horrible fight I was in. We got there seven days before the fight. They wanted us to come in three days before the fight and they didn't appreciate that we wanted to come in seven days before the fight and I think that was wrong. When we got there they didn't give us any food money, have anybody to bring us to the gym. I had to train in my hotel. They didn't start paying for the hotel until Wednesday, but the fight was everything you shouldn't expect in a championship fight. There was nobody allowed from my corner to make sure that his hands were getting wrapped properly. He's not a big puncher, but every time I'd get hit and bruised up. It was the worst experience I had. When I had got dropped in the seventh round his corner jumped into the ring before I got counted out. That's a disqualification right there. His corner isn't supposed to jump into the ring until the referee calls off the fight."

GL: So You feel the whole situation was shady?

Vivian Harris: "It was all shady. The day before the fight he was losing weight to make the weight at the hotel. Then on the night of the fight he's bigger than me and stronger than me. I don't know if they injected him with stuff, but I know I was there to fight and the first time I got hit I started getting bruised and he fighting like he was a puncher. He's never beaten anyone of my caliber so for him to hit me with shots like that and hurt me, something was wrong."

GL: Do you not give Witter any credit for winning the fight?

VH: "I don't give him no credit because he didn't beat me fair. He knows he didn't beat me fair. The night of the fight he was so confident and being scared the whole week and that's because of what they did to make sure they win the fight any way they can. My cutman tried to point it out to everyone how they jumped in the ring before the fight was over."

GL: But you were eventually counted out right?

VH: "Yeah. I was on my feet when he hit the ten count. At the count of seven they were in the ring and they weren't supposed to be there. They were also supposed to have somebody watch his hands get wrapped. Anything could have been in his gloves, and it wasn't a fair fight."

GL: Clearly it wasn't your best night, I'm just trying to figure out if it's because you're saying Witter did something shady or the way you were treated from the time you landed early.

VH: "I was treated unfairly when I first landed and they did something to him."

GL: If this protest goes nowhere, have there been any discussions of where you go from here?

VH: "It is going to go somewhere. Me and my manager and my lawyer are going to fight this all the way. This was bad for boxing. On the night of the fight someone from my team is supposed to be able to watch them wrap his hands and he should have been disqualified when his people jumped into the ring early. I'm not thinking about it like it's not going to go somewhere because it is, we have two legit points."

GL: Are you confident that if the fight were shown in America there would be an outcry from the fans demanding a rematch?

VH: "Definitely. That's why the fight wasn't shown in America and brought to America. They wanted it to be in England so they can control everything. If we had to fight over here the fight would have had to be fair and all of that wouldn't have taken place so I would have been very successful."

GL: Are you concerned that people reading this who have not seen the fight might look at this as you just making excuses for the loss?

VH: "I don't think so because everyone knows when you go to England this is what happens. England is not a fair place to fight. Fighters have gone there and bad things happen to them. Fighters have gotten hurt badly over there. This is the first time I got dropped in a fight where my mind told me not to get up. The second time I got dropped my mind told me to stay down, but my will brought me up. I just got up too late. Thinking about it, I'm glad I got up too late because with how his hands got wrapped, I'm just happy I didn't get hurt. I don't care what nobody thinks, I have a family I have to live for but the fighters need to be protected and they didn't do that over there in England."

GL: Is there anything you'd like to say in closing?

VH: "This is the first fight I lost that I know I didn't lose fairly. I was in better shape and stronger than him until the night of the fight. Then I was weak and he was so powerful. Something went wrong in that dressing room, something went wrong with his blood and I hope we get a urine test or a blood test. But I'm not stressing that because they could control that too. I didn't even know I was training at his gym until after the fight. I had no protection over there, everything was in his favor and I got set up for the loss. They knew this was his biggest fight and they did what they had to make him win that fight by injecting him with whatever they had to."

Apart from the excuses he is right that Witters corner stupidly entered the ring prior to the end of the 10 count. And that is technically a disqualification so he could force the WBC to demand a rematch

Sorry, but Harris is a wanker, what a load of old toss. Making accusations about Witter being injected etc, laughable nonsense. Illegal hand wraps, injections, what next, he had kryptonite in his gloves?

I doubt that the governing body will intervene, Harris was getting the hell beaten out of him, and there's little in it for them.

I hope they do fight again, so Witter can batter the shite out of the big mouthed prick.

Harris is talking absolute bollocks from start to finish.

I think he must still be concussed.

There is absolutely no chance of the WBC ordering a rematch either.

I remember when Harris demanded certain pay and conditions to come to England and fight Hatton...Warren gave him everything and then he changed his mind..

Wasnt sad to see him knocked out...

What a prick Harris is!!! Thats got to be libelous (sp)

What does he mean Juniors not a BIG puncher

If he was convinced there was something wrong with Juniors gloves then why wasn't it mentioned when Junior still had the gloves on, so they could have been examined???? Excuse after excuse after

Excuse 1) We didn't have enough prep time in the UK? wasn't he over here for a week at least

Excuse 2) We didn't have any food money??? Why not use your own money, surely he didn't come over here penniless

Excuse 3) They didn't start paying for the hotel til Wednesday??? Exactly how did this contribute to Harris getting sparked

Excuse 4) They didn't have any to bring us to the gym??? Ask the bloke on the hotel reception for a taxi

Excuse 5) Juniors not a BIG puncher, but when he punched me I bruised up, he must have had dodgy gloves/wrappings??? Roughly translated means "Junior is a BIG puncher, his power surprised me"

Excuse 6) He was losing weight in the hotel, but came in the ring bigger and stronger than Harris??? I was surprised how BIG Junior was come fight time (he looked no BIGGER than normal)

Excuse 7) "Everyone knows when you go to England this is what happens. England is not a fair place to fight. Fighters have gone there and bad things happen to them. Fighters have gotten hurt badly over there.". Fighters get hurt everywhere not just in England, who else has said England is not a fair place to fight, nobody that I can remember.


That whole interview is laughable, Harris got his head punched in by a far better boxer...END OF STORY!!

Technically speaking though, Witters corner did mess up and could have got Witter disqualified by entering the ring before the count was up

Absolutely ridiculous.

Yes, the corner jumping in was a valid point and they were very stupid to do so, but it was at nine, not seven, and Harris wasn't getting up anyway.

As for suggesting Witter had been injected with something and had his hands wrapped a certain way, at the same time as bringing up that foreign fighters have been hurt in Britain (presumably referring to McClellan) is just plain offensive.

He claimed to have watched six Witter fights, then says he was surprised Witter hit him so hard. Which fights did he watch? Even in the distance fights with Ndou and Corley, he rocked them badly several times.

Clearly the ramblings of a man desperate for one more payday. But it's true his corner man (Dom Ingle wasn't it?) really should have known better to run into the ring while the ref was midcount.

Luckily for them that as this isn't a money rematch i doubt the WBC will do a thing.

Well, all I can say is, I'm glad Witter bashed this wanker into the pitiful, crying baby that was cowering in the dressing room. Good riddance Harris. Come over again if you dare, bitch.

PN, I wouldn't take any of this seriously and I doubt the WBC will.

Harris is just playing on the Holt-Torres hysteria.

If this were the IBF he'd be mandatory contender by October.

I was very surprised at Dominic Ingle being in the ring prematurely, that was very amatuerish, particularly when he was in the corner where Harris' head was.

Maybe Ingle saw the ref raise his arms to wave it off, the camera angle didn't show that to the viewer at home.

As for the other claims, how ridiculous. He was very friendly with Junior in the ring after the bout for someone so animated and defiant in his claims now.

Treating foriegn fighters shabbily in the build up to a bout is standard practice, Harris should have taken care of these minor points.

ROb Reid is an example of someone who had no facilities in US when he fought Lacy, he was training a tpool side.

Harris has made a fool of himsef.

Ppl are already trying to say that Harris was ready to beat the count when Ingle (idiotically) jumped in.

Regarding training facilities - and also the point Dave made about Lacy-Reid.

OK, the boxer rightly expects this will be taken care of and it's not a good thing when it isn't.

But is it really so difficult to find a genuine boxing gym somewhere else? It might not be what you want, but surely Reid could have looked up a gym in the Yellow Pages. Even an amateur gym or very small outfit would have to be better than training by the side of a hotel pool!

And then Harris complaining about the hotel and food provision, etc. OK, they may have been given a raw deal, but can they not find an alternative hotel or afford to pay for the existing one themselves for the time being? And can they really not afford to pay for their own food from a cheap but reliable shop or restaurant?

People should have enough nous to look after themselves when things don't go according to plan. It might not be fair, but it's not that difficult either. I thought boxers were supposed to be good at overcoming adversity.

Viv has the makings of a great stand up comedian by the sounds of it.

Anyone think that Harris should be severely punished for what he has said? Saying that Witter had been injected with a super power serum, etc etc.

Autobarn wrote:Anyone think that Harris should be severely punished for what he has said? Saying that Witter had been injected with a super power serum, etc etc.

Yes, Bobbie Vanzie was punished for saying much milder things. Claims such as this bring the sport into disrepute.

oliverfennell wrote:

Autobarn wrote:Anyone think that Harris should be severely punished for what he has said? Saying that Witter had been injected with a super power serum, etc etc.

Yes, Bobbie Vanzie was punished for saying much milder things. Claims such as this bring the sport into disrepute.

What did Vanzie say?

That the fight game was fixed following his genuinely controversial defeats to Earl.

The things fighters will tell you make your eyes water about matchmaking, weigh-ins, notice etc.

And the malaise, disease, call it what you like, spreads wide from supposedly objective bodies, through managers, promoters, control boards and fighters themselves.

Nobody talks about it openly, but we all accept fixed fights to a degree when we discuss and accept the 40-36 60-54 that occur on undercard under the guise of learning fights.

The opponent never, EVER comes to win. Is that a fixed fight?

As for the most legitimate of Harris points, entering the ring, remember Glen Johnson tried to pull of a similar thing versus Clinton last time out.

Naive on the part of the those that climbed into the ring.

Harris is a bad loser, no doubt he got a bit or rough treatment as a visiting fighter, but doesn't that always happen?

Gave up reading that about 23 excuses (and 2 lines) in. Not much of a Witter fan but he did a real number on Harris and he should be man enough to stand up and admit it instead of that bitching rant.

Anyway what did he expect fighting the Witter on a Hennessy promotion. I know it's not a direct comparison but if Man Utd were going to Galatasary they wouldn't leave it to Galatasary to ensure that their accomadation, training facilities were exactly as they like it. They;d sort it out themselves. Harris should have done the same.

Gary Shaw sitting ringside could have earned his percentage by sorting that out for him. Whatever about finding Harris a gym you can bet his fat arse Shaw didn't go hungry during his stint.

Autobarn wrote:

oliverfennell wrote:

Autobarn wrote:Anyone think that Harris should be severely punished for what he has said? Saying that Witter had been injected with a super power serum, etc etc.

Yes, Bobbie Vanzie was punished for saying much milder things. Claims such as this bring the sport into disrepute.

What did Vanzie say?

He basically told the truth, both fights were fixed, they were wide UDs to Vanzie and they were given to Earl. the second fight was around 9-3 at worst for Vanzie, and the round Vanzie knocked Earl down in was given too Earl. Sickening especially as it ruined Vanzies career and bobby may have won a world title if he was given the opportunity, he had the ability

I think they also kept setting dates, having Vanzie come close to making weight and then pull out knowing Vanzie had a few problems with weight.

Harris cant be fined by the BBCofC because he isnt a British fighter

It was Casamonica who kept pulling out on Vanzie not Earl.

DavidPayne wrote:It was Casamonica who kept pulling out on Vanzie not Earl.

I dont remember the specifics tbh but Im sure there was something with Earl too

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

Harris cant be fined by the BBCofC because he isnt a British fighter

Wasn't Mike Tyson fined by the Board after that incident at the end of the Lou Savarese fight in Glasgow?

You might be right PN.

This may in part help:

http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-a ... peaks-out/