Johnston vs. Harris Highlight Tonight’s HBO Boxing After Dark

ByBoxing Press

World-class welterweights and junior welterweights do battle when HBO Boxing After Dark: Vivian Harris vs. Stevie Johnsyon and Joshua Clottey vs. Richard Gutierrez is seen tonightat 10:30 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Chumash Casino & Resort in Santa Ynez, Cal., exclusively on HBO. The HBO Boxing After Dark team of Fran Charles, Max Kellerman and Lennox Lewis will be ringside for the event, which will be presented in Spanish language on HBO Latino.

HBO2 playdates: July 30 (7:30 a.m., 5:45 p.m.) and Aug. 1 (11:30 p.m.). Times are ET/PT.

The main event spotlights 140-pound sluggers, as former super lightweight titleholder Vivian Harris (26-2-1, 17 KOs), from Georgetown, Guyana, by way of Brooklyn, battles Denver’s Stevie Johnston (39-3-1, 18 KOs) in a ten-round junior welterweight tilt.

Harris was regarded among the best junior welterweights in the world before suffering a seventh-round knockout at the hands of Carlos Maussa in June 2005. In just his second bout since the setback, “Vicious” Vivian faces a crafty veteran in the fiercely competitive Johnston, a former two-time lightweight champion who is riding a four-fight winning streak. Johnston replaces Mike Arnaoutis, who withdrew from the card due to injury.

In the evening’s opening bout, it’s an intriguing matchup of one of the world’s best 147-pounders versus a fast-climbing undefeated prospect. Joshua Clottey (28-1, 18 KOs) of the Bronx meets Richard Gutierrez (19-0, 12 KOs), from Arjona, Colombia, and now living in Fort Lauderdale, in a scheduled 12-round welterweight battle. Clottey, originally from Accra, Ghana, is an accomplished fighter whose only pro blemish was a controversial disqualification at the hands of current welterweight champ Carlos Baldomir almost seven years ago. He looks to parlay this national TV appearance into a prime position in the 147-pound division. Gutierrez, a tough yet untested brawler, faces perhaps the toughest test of his young career in Clottey, and can decisively establish himself as the next hot young welterweight with a victory.