By Ian S Palmer
Former WBC World Jr. Middleweight Champion Tony Harrison of Detroit, Michigan will be taking on Sergio Garcia of Spain in a 12-round junior middleweight tilt this Saturday, April 9th. The fight from Los Vegas can be seen live in America on Showtime with TSN2 broadcasting it in Canada. Harrison last fought in April, 2021 when he earned a 10-round draw with Bryant Perrella. Garcia last boxed in December when he lost for the first time as a pro by dropping a 12-round unanimous decision to Sebastian Fundora in a highly-entertaining bout.
Harrison is now 31 years old and climbs into the ring with a mark of 28-3-1 with 21 Kos. He’s got quite a bit of power with a knockout ratio of 65.6 per cent but his chin is questionable since he was stopped in all three of his losses. These came at the hands of Jermell Charlo in the 11th round in December, 2021 as well as Jarrett Hurd in the ninth round in February, 2017 for the vacant IBF Title and to Willie Nelson in the ninth round of their July, 2015 fight.
The loss to Charlo was a rematch of their bout which was held a year earlier which saw Harrison take a 12-round unanimous decision to capture Charlo’s WBC world title. Harrison’s boxed 151 rounds since turning pro in 2011 and he’s a good-sized junior middleweight at 6-feet-1-inch tall with a reach of 76.5 inches.
Harrison’s best wins have been against Charlo, Ishe Smith, Paul Valenzuela Jr, Siarhei Rabchanka, Fernando Guerrero, Antwone Smith, Bronco McKart, Grady Brewer and Calvin Odom. He struggled a bit when moving up in class before beating Charlo and while he’s a good boxer with power he may not quite be on the elite level at this moment.
The little-known Garcia boasts a fine record of 33-1 with 14 Kos. He went right at it with Fundora in his last bout and landed numerous clean shots. However, his relative lack of power may have cost him as his current knockout ratio is a bit below average at 41.2 per cent. Garcia is just under 6-feet-tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach. Therefore, he gives up 1.5-inches in height to Harrison.
Garcia made his pro debut in 2012 and has boxed 240 rounds since. As a pro, he’s won the WBC Mundo Hispano, Spanish, WBC International, WBC Silver, and EBU European Super Welterweight titles and was named the ESPABOX Spanish fighter of the year in 2019 and 2020. His best wins have been over Isaac Real, Maxime Beaussire, Ted Cheeseman, Sergey Rabchenko and Pablo Mendoza.
Prediction…
Harrison definitely hasn’t been at his best in his last two outings with a draw and KO loss but he’s still young enough and good enough to bounce back to earn another world title shot. However, that dream may come to an end if he can’t take care of Garcia. It won’t be easy as Garcia looked good against Sebastian Fundora in his last contest even though he lost it. This is a great chance for Harrison to prove he still belongs as a legitimate junior middleweight contender and although he’ll have his hands full, I’m looking for him to do enough to add another win to his record.
