Tony Harrison vs. Antwone Smith
Middleweight Tony Harrison (20-0-0, 16 KOs) will be making his case in 2015 to be classified as a full-blown contender in a Middleweight division that could use some fresh talent.
He continued his reign of impressive wins in the main event of the Friday, March 6, 2015 edition of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights, dominating the smaller and clearly less talented Antwone Smith (23-5-1, 12 KOs).
Harrison, who had a clear reach advantage, was able to pick apart Smith with brutal shots in the first round, drawing blood from Smith’s nose, and knocking him down twice.
The second knockdown came right as the bell rang for the end of the round, igniting a serious conversation between the ring doctor and Smith’s corner on whether he should even be allowed to walk out for Round 2.
Smith was allowed to fight on, but didn’t last long, Harrison dropped him again at the 2:45 minute mark, concluding a night that saw three out of four of the televised fights stopped within two rounds.
The Al Haymon advised fighter from Michigan, who has looked sharp recently, winning his two previous fights by first-round knockouts, could find himself in with some of the bigger names at 160 pounds, possibly by the end of year.
His long, athletic frame, combined with improving technical-boxing skills and punching power, could make him a threat to any top 10 contender in the future, and maybe even put him in position as a quality opponent for another Haymon-advised Middlweight, Peter Quillin.
