NEWS: TONY HARRISON QUESTIONS HOW TIM TSZYU EARNED WORLD TITLE SHOT

By: Jay Calderon 

Tony Harrison doesn't believe hell have an easy fight on March 11 when he takes on the undefeated Tim Tszyu in Jr. Middleweight action. He just questions if Tszyu would be in this position if it weren't for his last name and his financial backing.

Tszyu, the son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, has steadily improved as a professional, earning a 21-0 with 15KOs record. However, at 28 years of age, the Aussie hasn't faced the stiffest competition up to this point. That hasnt stopped him from becoming a decent name in the sport of boxing.

Harrison, 29-3-1 with 21KOs, simply feels Tszyu may have had an easier time than most moving up the rankings.

"I don't look past nobody that knows how to fight, man. Like I told everybody: I'm in a real fight. So, I'm definitely not knocking Tim, (or) Tim's ability to come in and fight," Harrison said during a press conference for their encounter.

"But, I think the money behind him and the name behind him -- I mean, there's so many people that I could put in front of Tim Tszyu to say, 'They need a title shot at Jermell Charlo'. Tim, to me, he just hasn't accomplished, or fought anybody or done anything. They really just out the money up for him.

As Harrison mentioned, Tszyu was originally scheduled to face world 154 pound champion Jermell Charlo in January, before an injury to the titlist forced a postponement. Harrison, who has split a pair of fight with Charlo previously, simply feels his pathway to the top level of the sport has been more of a challenge than his counterpart.

"He's definitely a tough fighter, I'm not knocking him being tough. But when you look at my road, and the things I had to do and the obstacles I had to jump over, I mean, he took the elevator, I took the stairs. I'm like, how did he get there? Somebody make it make sense to me," Harrison rhetorically asked.

To some degree, you can see Harrison's point. Tszyu has mostly fought in his native Australia against limited opposition before moving into a position to face Charlo. Still, a fight with a former champion like Harrison will be a great measuring stick for exactly where Tszyu stands as a professional fighter.

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