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| Scott Harrison’s big plans of unification hinge on the outcome of his WBO featherweight title defense tomorrow night against unheralded Ethiopian boxer Samuel Kebede at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena. Is this just a tune up for the amazingly strong 126-pound champion? One that will last as long as Harrison feels like carrying his opponent or will |  |
the unbeaten Kebede be taken for granted and produce a stunning upset of epic proportions? The only way to know for sure is to watch the fight but until then, the next best thing is to ask the fighters, trainers and managers, which is what Saddoboxing had the chance to do recently in Glasgow, Scotland. Scott Harrison, 22-2-1(12), is well known in the world of boxing as the former British, Commonwealth and current two-time WBO featherweight champion. His opponent for tomorrow night’s title defense, Samuel Kebede, remains an unknown quantity to most fans in Britain, although the Ethiopian born boxer did decision London based trial horse Jus Wallie over eight in Wales, this past February.
Starting in 1996, Kebede, 24-0 (14), initially fought out of South Africa, turning back thirteen opponents there. In 2000, Kebede hit the road, tallying victories in Lesotho, Botswana and then Kenya. After a two-year break from fighting, the Ethiopian became a European traveler, turning up in Germany, Finland, and Hungary before drubbing Wallie in Wales earlier this year. Most recently Kebede returned to Finland in April to outpoint former Russian featherweight king Evgeny Strausov, again over eight rounds. The tourist will enter a Scottish ring for the first time tomorrow night and while Glasgow can be an unfriendly place for visiting fighters, Kebede is relaxed at the prospect. “It’s no problem for me at all to come to Scotland and fight,” he said. “I’ve been all over the world and it’s just me and the opponent in the ring. It doesn’t matter where the fight takes place.”
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While Kebede admits Scott Harrison is a very good fighter, he’s going on the logic of the Scotsman being a current two-time world champion and word of mouth because he doesn’t actually have first hand experience himself of seeing Harrison in action. “I’ve never seen him fight,” admits the thirty-year-old Ethiopian. “It’s not a problem. After the bell rings, |
I get to see him in the first and second rounds, and after that I know him. It’s better for me to assess an opponent early on while fighting him than by watching a tape beforehand.”
Brave words for a man who’s most accomplished opponent so far has been Trust Ndlovu, a former Zimbabwean featherweight titlist who twice failed to win the Commonwealth crown, losing to future world champ Paul Ingle at featherweight and Charles Shepherd at super featherweight. Team Harrison is fully aware of Kebede’s inexperience at the top level but insists that they aren’t taking the undefeated WBO number six-ranked contender lightly. “We’ve given Samuel Kebede full respect and have been training on our normal seven to eight week schedule,” exclaimed Peter Harrison, Scott’s father and trainer. “We aren’t looking ahead to anything else.”
| That “anything else” would be rumored title unification bouts with the other reigning featherweight titlists Injin Chi and Juan Manuel Marquez. The Korean Chi holds the WBC Crown while Marquez wears both the WBA and IBF versions of the world title. Both are proven at the highest levels and would be considered a step up |  |
in regards to the healthy level of competition Harrison has already been trading in, something the twenty seven year old Cambuslang native is itching to get started at. “I’m focusing in on this fight and getting a job done as there’s a lot of big money fights down the road,” he said. “I think that I’m number three in the Ring Magazine ratings and I like the challenge of trying to get to number one. I’m nearly there and I can see it in my sights. Unification fights are what I want with either Chi or Marquez, with Marquez being who I want next as he holds two belts.”
Scott’s manager Frank Maloney knows a thing or two about unification fights as he previously directed Lennox Lewis to the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Maloney is fully confident of Harrison’s abilities on the world stage but has ensured that his fighter won’t look too far ahead and let Kebede spoil the party. “Scott and I have talked about not underestimating Kebede,” said Maloney. “Everything we’ve talked about concerning Marquez, Chi or even a step up to super feather to face the champions there, Scott has to get this guy out of the way first. We’ve all seen fighters who have underestimated opponents, with Mike Tyson and Roy Jones being prime examples this year. There’s no easy route in boxing, it’s the hardest sport in the world and it’s the most unpredictable. Scott’s had two losses in his career so far and we’ve been able to get back on the road. A third slip up and there will be no more major world title fights.”
Scott Harrison and Samuel Kebede will get together shortly to decide who will leave the ring the WBO champion. For Harrison, the chance at further riches and glory await him afterward should he prove victorious while Kebede will be fighting for the respect and recognition that have so far eluded him in his eight-year career. While nothing is certain, the following verbal exchange may provide a bit of foreshadowing of what’s to come in the ring on Friday night. Kebede: “I’ll go for the knockout if it comes but if not, I will outbox him easily. Easily!” Harrison, after a long, hard glare with no shortage of menace: “We’ll see about that. We’ll see about that, my friend, I’ve been in fifteen title fights and you’ve never been twelve rounds in your life. You’re gonna get knocked out.”
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