Tony Harrison is seeing that with age and experience, he is happily following the life lessons and boxing principles set forth by his father, Ali Salaam, ahead of his bout this coming Saturday.
Harrison will face Brian Chaves in a 10-round middleweight bout at the Fox Theater in Detroit.
Harrison might not have his father in the gym with him (Salaam passed away in 2020), but he is now embracing the minutiae that he avoided when he was a younger fighter working under his dad.
“The stuff that I thought was boring back then isn’t boring anymore,” Harrison told BoxingScene. “I am having pride in doing it. The thing my father would have been proud to see me do for this camp is the shadowboxing,” Harrison told BoxingScene. “He knew I hated shadowboxing.”
Years ago, Harrison was the boxer who just wanted to gear up and spar. For this camp – he is now trained by his brother, LJ Harrison – he said he is sweating from warm-ups. Harrison, now 35, admits he is doing what he didn’t have the maturity to do at 23 or 24 years old.
“Sometimes my brother will have me shadowboxing against a person,” Harrison said. “No headgear or gloves, and we are shadowboxing like we are fighting each other.”
Harrison believes that these high-intensity practices, replicating what he does in the ring, carry over to fight night. A former belt holder in the junior middleweight division, Harrison believes he is stronger and in better shape at middleweight now that he doesn’t have to deplete himself an extra six pounds.
“I think this run for me is iconic,” Harrison said.
Harrison, 30-4-1 (21 KOs), earlier this year signed with Salita Promotions. This will be his second bout with his new promoter, after he won a 10-round unanimous decision over Edward Ulloa Diaz in July.
Chaves, 15-7 (6 KOs), is a 33-year-old from San Miguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina, who knocked out Matias Raimundo Diaz in October to end a six-fight losing skid.
A win over Chaves won’t necessarily line up Harrison to challenge for a title in his next bout, but securing another belt is very much his end goal. He believes that becoming a two-division titleholder will posthumously ensure his father is held in higher esteem as a trainer.
“All the credit my father didn’t get as a trainer will come to the light,” Harrison said. “I think winning a world title in two divisions will show why my father was the GOAT.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
