MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CMC) – Vivian Harris honestly admits that the last two years of his professional fight career have been difficult.
The former World junior welterweight champion from Guyana has endured long stretches of inactivity during this period.
But the 31-year-old Harris remains undeterred, and is looking forward to his latest fight which was scheduled for last night against undefeated Argentine pugilist Lucas Matthysse.
“I still consider myself one of the best fighters in the division,” said Harris, who now resides in Brooklyn in the American state of New York.
He has had an up-and-down career that currently stands at 29 wins, 17 KOs, 3 losses, 1 draw, and 1 no-contest from a total of 34 fights.
Harris made his professional debut on November 4, 1997 when he fought Levi Long and KO’d him in the first minute of the first round.
In December of the same year, Harris defeated Adam Salas, forcing the referee to stop the bout prematurely.
This pattern of aggressive fighting continued for years and earned him the ring nickname of ‘Vicious’.
On October 19, 2002, Harris defeated Diobelys Hurtado and captured the WBA junior welterweight title.
He successfully defended his title twice in the next two years against Souleyman Mbaye and Oktay Urkal.
But he conceded the belt in June 2005, when he failed to answer the 10-count in a fight against Carlos Maussa of Colombia.
He met Junior Witter two years later in Doncaster, England, to fight for the WBC light welterweight belt. Once again, Harris fell short of expectations, and was not able to answer the count of 10 in his second straight title fight.
Harris stumbled towards his corner and collapsed, after he collided heads with Noe Bolanos in his previous fight last August, forcing the referee to stop the fight officially at 40 seconds of the second round, declaring the match a no-contest.
“I have faced some adversity these last two years, but I’m still determined,” said Harris. “I’m still hungry. I am here and I will be champion again.”
“I’m ready to go. I’m fully prepared for Matthysse. This is my first step back to a World title and I will not be denied.”
Matthysse has compiled an impressive record of 25-0 with 23 KOs. His clash with Harris, however, represents a significant step up in class, as thus far, his perfect record has come against mostly soft opposition.