By Lee Collier

Wolverhampton’s Dean Harrison aims to make it third time lucky this Friday night when he faces Nigel Wright for the 31 year olds former English light-welterweight belt.  Harrison previously fought for the English title back in 2008 losing to Scott Haywood before failing in a challenge for Paul McCloskeys European title and will be hoping to win a major belt on his third try.

The 26-year-old boxer moved training camp to Manchester to train under the guidance of Lee Beard after a shock loss to Darren Askew in November.  Since then the Denton based trainer has guided Harrison to a first round victory over Ben Lawler for the Midlands title and Harrison is quick to credit Beard with turning his career around.

“Lee has made a massive difference in my career.  When I started training with Lee after the Askew defeat I was a broken man on the verge of quitting the sport,” revealed Harrison.  “Lee has got me back to boxing better than I ever thought I could and he has built my confidence and I made the right choice moving to him.”

Harrison at first made the move to Manchester to train with Beard, but following Beard’s appointment as two weight world champion Joan Guzman trainer the Wolverhampton fighter has found himself training in New York and Ireland.

“Even training over in Ireland with the Cubans [Alexei Acosta, Luis Garcia and Mike Perez] you can see the experience rubbing off on you and it inspires you to improve,” explained Harrison.  “Joan Guzman is one in a million and is a tremendous fighter.  If I had an eighth of his talent I would be happy and training with someone like him can only help you develop as a fighter.”

Harrison has found himself training over the Irish Sea in Ireland for the Wright fight and feels that his preparations have gone as well as they could.  “Training couldn’t have gone any better, I have had a fantastic training camp over in Ireland with Lee and I couldn’t be happier,” stated a confident Harrison. 

“There will be no excuses this time, everything has gone perfect in the build-up.  I would have liked a bit more sparring but all the padwork and the gameplan Lee has come up with is perfect.  It’s been the hardest I have ever trained; I have had plenty of video footage of Wright so I know what to expect and am just looking forward to the fight now.”

The turnaround in not only Harrison’s career, but also in his confidence since the Askew fight can be seen, and even only had less than one round of action since then the 26 year old is confident that he will come out on top against a dangerous opponent.

Askew explained, “There is always the possibility that I could be a bit rusty at first but after the Askew fight I knew I had change my lifestyle and have kept myself in the gym and kept myself fit.  I have been sparring every day since the Lawler fight so I am in great shape.  I could have done with a couple more rounds but we’re expecting to lose the first couple of rounds then I’ll take over and it will come good for me.”

Harrison knows how important the Wright fight is in his career and knows he is facing a tough opponent whose losses have all come against top level domestic fighters.

“It will mean everything to me to win this belt. In my eyes I won it two years ago [Harrison lost to Scott Haywood 97-96] but that’s long gone now,” revealed Harrison.  “The change in me from where I was last November to where I could possibly be on Friday just shows how Lee has turned me around.  The fight is also an eliminator for the British title so I have a good chance of fighting Lenny Daws next if I become the English champion on Friday.”

Harrison continued, “I’m not looking past Wright as he has only lost to the top fighters and lost closely so I need to concentrate on this fight but I feel I am ready for the next level and would be confident of beating Lenny Daws.  I feel the Nigel Wright fight will be a harder task than taking on Lenny Daws so with a win I’ll hopefully get a British title shot next.”