Will Tony Harrison Play the Scrooge and Cancel Christmas for Jermell Charlo?
By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña
On December 21st in Ontario, California when the WBC Super Welterweight Champion Tony “Superbad”’ Harrison (28-2, 21 KOs) and former world champion Jermell Charlo (32-1, 16 KO’s) enter the ring to face each other, it will be nearly a year to the day that Harrison dethroned the former king of the 154lb division in front of a sold-out crowd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. That night the judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 all in favor of Harrison. Now the WBC Champion will look to retain his title when he battles Charlo in a highly anticipated rematch. “I could beat him anywhere, it doesn’t matter. We could fight in this room right now. Nothing is going to change. There’s no respect. I’m going to show him each and every time. I’m not the one to play with. This isn’t Jorge Cota. You have somebody from Detroit. Whatever you want to do, we’re ready to do it at any given moment.” Stated Harrison in a recent press conference. The Harrison vs. Charlo rematch has been building ever since their first matchup on December 22, 2018. The rematch was initially scheduled for June 23rd but was postponed when Harrison suffered torn ligaments after spraining his ankle in training. That night Charlo fought late replacement Jorge Cota, whom he dropped twice and stopped in the third round of a dominant performance.
Now that Harrison’s ankle is fully healed, Harrison is ready to cement his hold on the title while Charlo is ready to take back what he believes belongs to him. “December 21st is my day. December 22nd was the day they made a decision to give Tony a victory” stated Charlo during the kick-off presser for the rematch. “I know that I won that first fight and I’m going to do things in a more dominant fashion this time. I’m going to be overpowering and ferocious. It will be the best Jermell Charlo. My plan is to show everyone that Tony Harrison is not on my level.” Charlo continued to tell Harrison had faked his injury. “You saw what I did to Cota on June 23rd and you saw what I was going to get ready to do to your ass. You faked that injury. He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready for what I was getting to deliver to him. The sport is rough. It does wear and tear on the body. You didn’t have surgery. June 3rd you was supposed to be having surgery on your ankle. DeAndre Ware was one of your sparring partners up there in Detroit. He clipped you. Dropped you. You was out. Maybe you had to regroup in your mind. Keep it real.”
In the Co-main event of the night former world champions Guillermo Rigondeaux and Liborio Solis will battle for the vacant WBA Bantamweight World title, Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) will look to move down and capture a title in a second weight class while showing off the masterful technical skills that made him a unified 122-pound world champion and perennial member of the pound-for-pound list. A two-time Olympic gold medalist for his native Cuba, Rigondeaux made his name with victories over the likes of Nonito Donaire, Rico Ramos, and Joseph Agbeko. Most recently, Rigondeaux scored an exciting eighth-round stoppage of former champion Julio Ceja in June on Fox. Born in Venezuela and fighting out of Panama, Solis (30-5-1, 14 KOs) will make his U.S. debut on December 21st while riding a five-fight winning streak. Solis captured a super flyweight world title in 2013 amidst a 14-bout unbeaten run. He has lost by decision in his two previous attempts at 118-pound title, including a controversial loss to Jamie McDonnell, which he has bounced back from on his current win streak.
