By Jake Donovan
By the time Tony Harrison had taken the mic during Thursday's press conference in Tampa, his forthcoming opponent Willie Nelson had already bashed the media and vowed to shock the world.
As moved as he was by his opponent's upbringing, Harrison was quick to remind those on hand that nearly everyone in boxing has a story to tell.
"We’re going to see the best Willie Nelson in a long time; he made the changes that need to be made to better his career," noted Harrison (21-0, 18KOs) ahead of their fight on Saturday, which airs live on ESPN from the USF Sun Done in Tampa. "He gave you a tough background. But as you know there ain’t nothing like the background of my city of Detroit.
"I ain’t trying to take food out of nobody’s mouth. But I have to provide food for my family, too."
The middleweight showdown serves as the chief support to a homecoming for unbeaten Keith Thurman, who faces Luis Collazo in the evening's main event. It was clear on Thursday that Harrison and Nelson have every intention of stealing the show on Saturday - they already did just that on Thursday.
A fight nearly developed before the actual fight itself, as there was plenty of jawing between the co-feature players and even a brief shoving match. Nelson did his part to bring his opponent's blood pressure to a boiling point, while Harrison encouraged the Cleveland native to settle down and save it for Saturday.
It was perhaps the extra motivation he needs for a spectacular performance on Saturday, though that part hasn't been very difficult for Harrison. The unbeaten middleweight from the famed Kronk Gym in Detroit has scored knockouts in each of his past 10 starts, none lasting longer than three rounds.
Nelson (23-2-1, 13KOs) has yet to be stopped in 26 pro fights, but has been down before. His first career loss saw the Cleveland product get dropped three times by Vincent Arroyo in dropping a majority decision. He was also handled for the most part by Vanes Martirosyan in their 10-round bout last October, his last fight to date.
Harrison believes he boasts the necessary skill set to give his opponent an entirely new look - both during the fight and by night's end.
"I have what it takes to knock Willie Nelson out. Everyone knows he has a glass chin,"; Harrison insists. "I'm going out there to exploit it. I bring power. Everybody knows that.
"If you think I’m going to lose to a fighter named after a country singer, you got a lot riding on that. I want to knock Willie Nelson out. I want to be the first to knock him out. That’s the challenge for me. Not just to win, but it’s too look good, knock him out and steal the show from Keith Thurman and Luis Collazo."
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox