Vivian Harris
Encyclopedia
"Vicious" Vivian Harris (born June 17, 1978) is a Guyanese
professional boxer
who was born in Georgetown, Guyana
and now resides in Brooklyn, New York. Harris began boxing at the age of twelve, and has since gained prominence for his aggressive fighting style.
career, racking up 45 wins, 5 losses, and 32 KO's. In 1995, Harris won the Metros championship, and the New York Golden Gloves
two years later. Following these successes, Harris turned professional in 1997.
to stop the bout prematurely.
This pattern of aggressive fighting continued for years. Harris successfully won against several competitors, until he faced Ray Oliveira
in early 2000. Harris was not able to match Oliveira's overall punch output, and consequently lost a 10-round decision. Later that year, Harris was matched against Ivan Robinson
, a fight which many thought he convincingly won. However, due to New Jersey
's consensus scoring system, Harris was forced to accept a draw
.
junior welterweight title. Harris defended his title twice in the next two years against Souleyman Mbaye and Oktay Urkal
, respectively.
In June 2005 Harris was set to fight Colombian
boxer Carlos Maussa
as a part of the Thunder and Lighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.
v. Arturo Gatti
pay-per-view
. Harris started the fight aggressively, and hurt Maussa in the first round. He continued to apply pressure, gunning for a knockout. However Maussa survived, and started to get stronger as the fight went on.
At this point, Harris grew visibly tired as he desperately tried to score a knockout. However, in the seventh round, Maussa caught Harris with a left hook that successfully sent Harris to the canvas. As the referee began counting, Maussa delivered another punch to Harris as he was down, although Harris was already hurt by the first blow, and the subsequent late punch did not land cleanly. Harris failed to answer the 10-count and the bout was scored as a knockout
for Maussa.
Vivian Harris and Junior Witter
met on Sept.6, 2007 in Doncaster, England, fighting for the WBC light welterweight belt. Witter came out more aggressive than usual, winning the first 6 rounds until knocking Harris out in the 7th with a punishing left hook that caught Harris off-guard. Harris once again fell short of winning a championship, not able to answer the count of 10 in his 2nd straight title fight.
Vivian Harris and Mexican
Noe Bolanos met on August 14, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona in the main event of ESPN's Friday Night Fights. In Round 2, Harris and Bolanos collided heads. Harris stumbled towards his corner and collapsed while the ringside doctor was talking with him. Harris appeared to be conscious but not entirely alert. He left the ring on a stretcher, was allowed to briefly walk around the fighter area, and was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. The referee stopped the fight officially at 40 seconds of Round 2, declaring the match a No Contest. Six months later he fought against Lucas Martin Matthysse, which he lost by a controversial fourth round TKO. In his next fight on the undercard of Mora vs. Mosley
against futurewelterweight
champion Victor Ortiz
, Harris was dropped three times in round two, and was dropped a fourth time in the third round for a KO loss to Ortiz.
Returning in 2011 against welterweight Jesse Vargas, Harris was severely battered in the first, appearing unprepared for the bout, defenseless, and without skills or stamina, and gave up at the end of the round, virtually ending his career with his third consecutive KO loss. It turns out Vivian had only two weeks notice for this fight and had to drop several pounds in a short time, including two pounds the day of the fight itself. This drained him and caused his performance to suffer.
Vivian fought again in July 2011 against Lanardo Tyner, losing a controversial unanimous decision to him. Harris and several ringside reporters felt he won the fight.
Vivian is currently working on another fight against an unnamed opponent for September 2011.
|align="center" colspan=8|29 Wins (19 knockouts), 6 Losses, 1 Draw
|- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Loss || 29-6-1 ||align=left|
United States Jesse Vargas
|RTD || 1 , (3:00) || April 8, 2011 || align=left|
Buffalo Bill Arena
, Primm, Nevada
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Loss || 29-5-1 ||align=left| Victor Ortiz
|KO || 3 , 2:13 || September 18, 2010 || align=left|
Staples Center
, Los Angeles
, California
|align=left|
|-align=center
(producer of Nick Cassavetes' Kentucky Rhapsody") and shot by filmmaker Richard O'Sullivan
.
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
professional boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
who was born in Georgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
and now resides in Brooklyn, New York. Harris began boxing at the age of twelve, and has since gained prominence for his aggressive fighting style.
Amateur career
After Harris arrived in the U.S., he began his amateur boxingAmateur boxing
Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...
career, racking up 45 wins, 5 losses, and 32 KO's. In 1995, Harris won the Metros championship, and the New York Golden Gloves
New York Golden Gloves
The New York Golden Gloves is a boxing tournament considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the three most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Chicago Golden Gloves....
two years later. Following these successes, Harris turned professional in 1997.
Professional career
Harris made his professional debut on November 4, 1997 when he fought Levi Long and KO'd him in the first minute of the first round. In December of the same year, Harris defeated Adam Salas, forcing the refereeReferee (boxing)
The referee in the boxing is the individual charged with enforcing the rules of that sport during a match.-The role of the referee:Referees have the following roles:*Gives instructions to both boxers before the fight...
to stop the bout prematurely.
This pattern of aggressive fighting continued for years. Harris successfully won against several competitors, until he faced Ray Oliveira
Ray Oliveira
"Sucra" Ray Oliveira in New Bedford, MA, USA is a former professional boxer who plans on coming out of retirement in an attempt to gain his 50th career win...
in early 2000. Harris was not able to match Oliveira's overall punch output, and consequently lost a 10-round decision. Later that year, Harris was matched against Ivan Robinson
Ivan Robinson
Ivan "Mighty" Robinson is a boxer who has compiled a record of 36-12-2 since becoming a professional in 1992. He attended Simon Gratz High School.- Professional career :...
, a fight which many thought he convincingly won. However, due to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
's consensus scoring system, Harris was forced to accept a draw
Draw
Draw, draws or drawn may refer to:* The act of drawing, or making an image with a writing utensil* A part of many card games* A part of a lottery* Wire drawing...
.
WBA Light Welterweight title
On October 19, 2002, Harris defeated Diobelys Hurtado and captured the WBAWorld Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
junior welterweight title. Harris defended his title twice in the next two years against Souleyman Mbaye and Oktay Urkal
Oktay Urkal
Oktay Urkal is a Turkish-German former professional welterweight.-Amateur career:As an amateur, Urkal won the silver medal in the light welterweight division at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia...
, respectively.
In June 2005 Harris was set to fight Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
boxer Carlos Maussa
Carlos Maussa
Carlos "El Apóstol" Maussa is a former professional boxer and light welterweight titleholder. Turning pro in 2000, at the age of 29, Maussa won two titles and fought in several significant fights until his retirement at age 38.Maussa was raised in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Montería, a city...
as a part of the Thunder and Lighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather, Jr. is an American professional boxer. He is a five-division world champion, where he has won seven world titles, as well as the lineal championship in three different weight classes...
v. Arturo Gatti
Arturo Gatti
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was a Canadian professional boxer. Born in Cassino, Italy, and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gatti relocated to Jersey City, United States as a teenager...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
. Harris started the fight aggressively, and hurt Maussa in the first round. He continued to apply pressure, gunning for a knockout. However Maussa survived, and started to get stronger as the fight went on.
At this point, Harris grew visibly tired as he desperately tried to score a knockout. However, in the seventh round, Maussa caught Harris with a left hook that successfully sent Harris to the canvas. As the referee began counting, Maussa delivered another punch to Harris as he was down, although Harris was already hurt by the first blow, and the subsequent late punch did not land cleanly. Harris failed to answer the 10-count and the bout was scored as a knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
for Maussa.
Vivian Harris and Junior Witter
Junior Witter
Junior Witter is a professional boxer from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. He is the former WBC, European, British, and Commonwealth light welterweight champion.-Early professional career:...
met on Sept.6, 2007 in Doncaster, England, fighting for the WBC light welterweight belt. Witter came out more aggressive than usual, winning the first 6 rounds until knocking Harris out in the 7th with a punishing left hook that caught Harris off-guard. Harris once again fell short of winning a championship, not able to answer the count of 10 in his 2nd straight title fight.
Vivian Harris and Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
Noe Bolanos met on August 14, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona in the main event of ESPN's Friday Night Fights. In Round 2, Harris and Bolanos collided heads. Harris stumbled towards his corner and collapsed while the ringside doctor was talking with him. Harris appeared to be conscious but not entirely alert. He left the ring on a stretcher, was allowed to briefly walk around the fighter area, and was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. The referee stopped the fight officially at 40 seconds of Round 2, declaring the match a No Contest. Six months later he fought against Lucas Martin Matthysse, which he lost by a controversial fourth round TKO. In his next fight on the undercard of Mora vs. Mosley
Shane Mosley vs. Sergio Mora
Shane Mosley vs. Sergio Mora is a boxing light middleweight superfight at Los Angeles, California on the weekend of the Mexican Independence Day.-Build-up:...
against futurewelterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
champion Victor Ortiz
Victor Ortíz
Victor Ortiz is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent and the former WBC welterweight champion.He was previously in the light welterweight division, where he held the USBA & NABO title....
, Harris was dropped three times in round two, and was dropped a fourth time in the third round for a KO loss to Ortiz.
Returning in 2011 against welterweight Jesse Vargas, Harris was severely battered in the first, appearing unprepared for the bout, defenseless, and without skills or stamina, and gave up at the end of the round, virtually ending his career with his third consecutive KO loss. It turns out Vivian had only two weeks notice for this fight and had to drop several pounds in a short time, including two pounds the day of the fight itself. This drained him and caused his performance to suffer.
Vivian fought again in July 2011 against Lanardo Tyner, losing a controversial unanimous decision to him. Harris and several ringside reporters felt he won the fight.
Vivian is currently working on another fight against an unnamed opponent for September 2011.
Professional record
|- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"|align="center" colspan=8|29 Wins (19 knockouts), 6 Losses, 1 Draw
|- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Loss || 29-6-1 ||align=left|
United States Jesse VargasJesse Vargas
Jessie Vargas is an undefeated Mexican-American boxer in the Light Welterweight division. Vargas is trained by Robert Alcazar and is signed to Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s boxing company, Mayweather Promotions....
|RTD || 1 , (3:00) || April 8, 2011 || align=left|
Buffalo Bill ArenaBuffalo Bill's
Buffalo Bill's is a hotel and casino located in Primm, Nevada, USA, at the California stateline. It has 1,242 guest rooms and suites. The hotel is home to the Desperado roller coaster, one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world, as well as a pool in the shape of a buffalo...
, Primm, Nevada
Primm, Nevada
Primm is a tiny community in Clark County, Nevada, United States, primarily notable for its position straddling Interstate 15 where it crosses the border between California and Nevada...
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Loss || 29-5-1 ||align=left|
Victor OrtizVictor Ortíz
Victor Ortiz is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent and the former WBC welterweight champion.He was previously in the light welterweight division, where he held the USBA & NABO title....
|KO || 3 , 2:13 || September 18, 2010 || align=left|
Staples CenterStaples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
|align=left|
|-align=center
Television
In 2009, Harris became the subject of an upcoming television reality series produced by John Edmonds KozmaJohn Edmonds Kozma
John Edmonds Kozma is an American director, actor, producer, cinematographer, and founder of Bang Productions.-Past Projects:...
(producer of Nick Cassavetes' Kentucky Rhapsody") and shot by filmmaker Richard O'Sullivan
Richard O'Sullivan (film maker)
Richard O'Sullivan is an American screenwriter, director, actor, producer, cinematographer, film editor, radio personality, and founder of Lost Colony Entertainment.-Film:...
.
External links
- boxen-artur.de – Encyclopedia