In most cases, the blatant back-and-forth trash talk that two wrestlers engage in before their matchup is nothing more than playful, innocuous banter. However, in the case of Tony Harrison’s seemingly endless foray of disparaging words directed at Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs), the 31-year-old not only meant it, he still feels exactly the same. in the same way, despite sharing the ring with him on two occasions.
Still, throughout it all, Harrison bows to his longtime rival for his recent historic win.
“I still don’t like this mother f—— to this day,” Harrison said on The 4Cast Network. “He still doesn’t like me to this day, but kudos to that man for breaking a barrier in history, but he’s still an idiot to me. But he’s a good ass hoe n—-. He is a good f—— fighter.”
The barrier Harrison refers to is one that has remained untouched for most of the last two decades. Following Charlo’s 10th-round knockout victory over Brain Castaño just a few months ago, the bellicose Houston native became the first undisputed champion of the 154-pound division since Winky Wright in 2004.
But even with Charlo reigning as the best man in the division, Harrison is unmoved by his four shiny trinkets. The Detroit native is simply itching to continue their rivalry.
In December 2019, Harrison and Charlo met for the first time in the co-main event space at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. While the decision was seen as controversial, Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KOs) became the first, and thus far the only man, to sully Charlo’s record. About a year later, Charlo would avenge said loss, stopping Harrison in the eleventh round.
Ultimately, Charlo’s career flourished as Harrison won even more world titles, stopping the likes of Jeison Rosario and the aforementioned Castano. Harrison’s career, on the other hand, took the wrong direction following a split decision draw against Bryant Perrella.
However, after taking an extended layoff, Harrison recently bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Sergio Garcia.
With the Detroit native back in the win column, he now urged Charlo to revisit their long-running rematch. While the allure of starting his own undisputed reign is a tempting proposition, Harrison couldn’t care less if those same titles were on the line. Bottom line, getting a win over Charlo with or without the titles would be enough to placate Harrison.
“I don’t want his belts, we can fight at a catchweight so he can keep all his belts. But I want to update it for people. From your people’s point of view and my people’s point of view, who is better between the two of us? I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want to die saying I’m with you when I don’t even like you and you don’t like me when we can fight again. I know you don’t want to be tied to me, I don’t want to be tied to you, let’s break the cycle.”
Facing Harrison for the third and presumably last time could become a distinct possibility for Charlo. For now, however, the 32-year-old has business to attend to. According to the undisputed champion, he has agreed to defend his 154-pound throne against Australian Tim Tszyu in the first quarter of 2023.
