"Floyd won't take the fight because he prefers beating on Women"

Over the last few weeks their has been a lot of press release warfare going on between Team Harris (Main Events and Emanuel Steward) and undefeated WBA mandatory Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton 36-0(26) and his promotional team (Frank Warren) which eventually resulted in both sides saying the other side wasn't being fair. However since then it has been said that unbeaten two time world champion "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather Jr. 32-0(21) will become the new mandatory to challenger for "Vicious" Vivian Harris 24-1-1(16) WBA Light Welterweight strap. Boxingtalk.com recently spoke to the Guyanese Born Brooklynite who feels that Mayweather will like all of his other mandatory challengers avoid him "I definitely believe that he is not going to step up and fight me, I don't think the fight with me and Floyd is going to happen because I know he doesn't want to fight me. He had a lot of opportunities to fight me in the past and didn't fight me, I think he is going to wait until June to fight Arturo Gatti because he knows that's an easier fight for him." stated a frustrated Harris who later added "I guess he likes cuffing (Punching) girls in the club rather than fighting a real fighter in the ring."

RC: Vivian over the past few weeks there's been lots of back and forth between your handlers and Team Hatton. Now that the fight didn't pan out why don't you enlighten us on what's going on now and how do you feel about the match not taking place?

VH: Right now I am upset that the fight didn't happen with me and Ricky Hatton because I think that it would have been a fight that the world wanted to see. But I think Ricky Hatton and his promoters really didn't wanted the fight, they wanted me to fight under their terms and their terms were like slave terms and I wasn't with that. Slavery days are over that is why I didn't take it under their terms. I wanted it to be a 50/50 split or it go to purse bid but they didn't want that, they wanted everything to be under their rules. Right now I am hearing they put Floyd Mayweather Jr.as my mandatory and I am not going to go from one big fight to a lesser opponent like Ricky Hatton is about to do right now when he fights (Michael) Stewart, a fighter that just lost to Sharmba Mitchell and then he wants to talk that he is not a coward. I want to challenge my mandatory right now and my mandatory is Floyd Mayweather Jr. and I hope he can step up to the plate and fight for the championship.

RC: Floyd is also the mandatory for Arturo Gatti who doesn't want to fight Floyd right away but would rather wait and face him sometime in June next year, do you think in the interim he'll step up and challenge you for your WBA mandatory being that he (Floyd) is now your mandatory?

VH: To be honest with you, I don't think Floyd is going to do that. Floyd is a coward; he is not going to do it. I definitely believe that he is not going to step up and fight me, I don't think the fight with me and Floyd is going to happen because I know he doesn't want to fight me. He had a lot of opportunities to fight me in the past and didn't fight me, I think he is going to wait until June to fight Arturo Gatti because he knows that's an easier fight for him. He knows he will be able to beat Arturo Gatti easily, he is going to box Gatti and run around the ring all night and swell Gatti's face up and the referee will stop the fight on a cut or something. But with me he knows I am a totally different fighter. So I don't think he will take the fight, I will be happy if he be a man and does step up to fight me since he is always talking all that talk on BET (Black entertainment television) and all the talk he is always talking about he is the best pound for pound and he can beat anybody from here and there. If he wants to be a champion at 140lbs, here is his opportunity now, take it and fight one of the best in the division, a strong kid that is still hungry.

RC: With the Hatton fight not going through and you feel that Floyd won't take the fight against you, where does that leave you now?

VH: I am just hoping that one of these guys take a fight with me, and if they don't take the fight I guess I will just have to wait and whoever becomes my mandatory I will still have to keep trying to fight them, somebody along the line will need a title shot.

RC: Isn't it kind of strange that you are the champion chasing a challenger and most of the time it is a mandatory chasing a champion for shot at the title?

VH: Yes because they don't want to loose and if they do fight they want to be careful, like Ricky Hatton he was my mandatory and he wants to talk about how much he wants to fight me, but he wants the fight to be in his hometown and he wants to get more money just in case he looses he knows he got more money. And if it is in his hometown then it is a good a chance he will get a decision over me, these fighters are scared man, my division has the scariest and most talkative fighters in boxing. All they do is talk about how they are the greatest and they are the best and they haven't done anything like what the other fighters have done yet like Shane Mosley did, or Roy Jones, (Antonio) Tarver, Winky Wright or Bernard Hopkins, none of these guys did anything like these guys did. But they want to talk like they are the best and they haven't even done anything yet. They don't even want to enforce their mandatory. In my case the Champion has to force the mandatory to fight, I am going to have to do 20 more interviews before I even here a word from Floyd, and he is talking about he is the king.

RC: In the past we discussed this but, this time it is a little different Hatton is being moved from number one then there is Miguel Cotto who is tied up with his upcoming bout in September, we are going to wait and see what Floyd does and then there is #4 rated Urkal again, if that is your only resort will you face him again?

VH: I am not thinking about Urkal, I want Floyd; I want somebody that I never beat, and I want to beat fresh people. I don't want to fight somebody that I already beat, that is not doing anything for Vivian Harris' career. I want to fight somebody that I didn't beat before, somebody that is up there and somebody that thinks they are the best in my division. I feel that the best should fight the best to become the best and that is what I want to do. I am saying I am the best 140lb fighter and he (Mayweather) is saying he is the best 140lb fighter and all of that other bullshit but how are we going to know if we don't fight.

RC: Are you currently training right now?

VH: Yes definitely, I am in training, I am about to go to camp next week, get with Emanuel (Steward), start working with him, and hope Floyd takes this fight. I think that Floyd is going to be even more scared to take this fight because putting me and Emanuel Steward together you are going to see what is going to happen. A Vivian that was doing everything by himself, with that I mean fighting outside of the ring and inside of the ring and wining my fights and now I have a new team, now I am not fighting the whole battle by myself, all I have to do is focus on the fight in the ring so I am going to be much more dangerous. Now with having a great trainer like I have with Emanuel Steward, he is definitely not really going to want to take the fight now. He is probably saying to himself "Vivian Harris is already good and now he has Emanuel Steward and he might even get better" trust me he is scared and he don't want to loose.

RC: Have you actually started working out with Emanuel Steward yet?

VH: Yeah we were down at the Kronk gym in Detroit working out.

RC: What has the transition been like you from working out at the famed Gleason's gym in Brooklyn, NY and now training at the equally as tough and rugged environment at Kronk Gym in Detroit, Michigan?

VH: Well like I always say wherever I am at is my home, I make it my home. I adapt to every environment, like right now I am going through a terrible hurricane down here in Florida and I am good, I am adapting to it, I leave everything in God's hand.

RC: Alright Viv, you are dodging the bullet which gym would say is more Gritty and hardcore in your opinion?

VH: (Starts to laugh) Ahh Man you can't get me to do that. I would never pick a gym, but the both of them are two great gyms. I can't do that, Brooklyn is my home and Detroit is where I am going to be at. They both are two beautiful gyms and I love both of them.

RC: Have you an Emanuel discussed any of the changes or adjustments he would like to make with your fighting style? And what do you expect him to bring to the table?

VH: There are a lot of different things that is pretty much like teamwork, it is not something for me to really put out there. It is basically (confidential) team work, we are pretty much just working on things that I need to strengthen and things that I need to learn. It's a lot more thing that I need to learn and Emanuel Steward is teaching it to me, there a lot of parts that I need to strengthen and helping me strengthening them.

RC: What is your current status with Shelly Finkel?

VH: I don't have anything with Shelly Finkel. Me and him is over, the seven years that I gave him is over and now I am with a new manager. I am thankful that God pushed me through up until this point because I learned a lot, I learned a lot about the game and I learned from the people that I dealt with before and people that I am dealing with now. It is all an experience for Vivian Harris; it is only going to make me a much better and stronger fighter.

RC: So with the Ricky Hatton fight falling through and Floyd likely to chase after Arturo Gatti for a more lucrative fight, have you and your team discussed any other options?

VH: Well we are definitely going to fight in October or November if Floyd don't want to fight, we already know Ricky Hatton is not going to fight, because he is already fighting Michael Steward, just like we thought he was going to do and look for a bum to go and fight. With Floyd it is like 50/50 right now. I am thinking he is going to take it and I am thinking he might not take it. I don't know what is wrong with the guy; something is wrong with the kid man. Something is wrong with him upstairs. I think he prefers beating on women than fighting real fighters that is what I think. Something is wrong with the kid for real. I guess he likes cuffing (Punching) girls in the club rather than fighting a real fighter in the ring. But he will go to a club and punch a girl in the face, and think he is the man or go on BET talking like he is the man and when it is time for him to step up to the plate he don't do shit, but it is alright. I don't punch girls in the face, I don't even hit girls and that goes to show what kind of person he is. He won't step up to the plate and fight me and that shows he is just a big coward and all of that talking he is doing on BET at the end of the day people are going to find out that he is a joker. He has an opportunity to fight for a championship at 140lbs but he doesn't want to fight for it. He claims he wanted to fight Arturo Gatti in October or November and Gatti doesn't want to right way so now me and him can fight in October or November either one, it's up top him.

RC: Is their anything else you would like to say in closing?

VH: I just hope these top fighters in the Jr. Welterweights man up and fight for their spots to become what you want to become. If you want to become the greatest you have to fight the best. Everybody knows I am the best out there in the Jr. Welterweight division and they don't want to fight. I just want to tell Ricky Hatton to go ahead and fight a next bum because like I said he is going have to come back to me, and this time he is going to be very very sorry that he didn't take the first offer that I gave him and if he really really wants a real championship fight he has to come to America and fight one of us, nobody is going to go to England and fight him. I was going to go there because I wanted to shut his mouth but when I realized he was making more money than me I didn't want to do it, because I would have shut his mouth that night and the next day his mouth would have end back up with that big check he got and that doesn't make any sense at all.

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