Harris training hard for February 20 Bout Against Matthysse!

By Brandon Estrict



Former WBA Light-Welterweight champion Vivian Harris, 29-3-1 (19), keeps on trucking.



His fight with undefeated Lucas Martin Matthysse, scheduled to be on the off-TV portion of the Andre Berto-Shane Mosley HBO headlined card, was canceled when the Haitian born Berto withdrew after losing 8 family members in the natural disaster that ravaged the Caribbean nation. While Berto’s situation understandably canned the entire card, Harris was unsure if the fight was going to be rescheduled. Luckily, the Carlstadt resident received word that he will still have the opportunity to face Matthysse.



Harris will now take on the unbeaten Argentinean, who is 25-0 (23), February 20 in Mexico City, Mexico. The bout is Harris’ first since his fight with Noe Bolanos last summer, in which an accidental clash of heads produced a frightening outcome. Harris collapsed just seconds after the vicious clash and was taken out of the arena on a stretcher. The bout was declared a no-contest after two rounds.



For Matthysse, a fight with Harris represents a significant step up in the class of his, thus far, soft-touch opposition.



Harris, meanwhile, hopes to become the first man to beat Matthysse, the brother of fringe contender Walter, and get his career back on track.



“Vivian’s been working hard”, said Harris’ co-trainer Aroz “Terrific” Gist, a Paterson native who also handles training duties for Kendall Holt.



“A couple fights ago (in a bout with Octavio Narvaez) he was fighting a tough guy and he had to come from behind and stop him to win. He’s hungry, he sees the doubters out there and he wants to prove them wrong and become a world champion again”.



Harris finishes up camp at the end of next week and will head to Mexico City for final preparations.