Step-up fight for KO kingpin Matty Harris

Matty Harris with Max McCracken…facing a real test in Brighton

MAX McCracken’s towering heavy Matty Harris – all 6ft 8ins of him – continues the televised march towards titles next month.

And unlike the vast majority of other current prospects, the huge punching Coventry boxer is doing it on a terrestrial channel. That’s thanks to his promoters Wasserman’s links to Channel5.

On November 21 at the Brighton Centre, Harris faces Franklin Ignatius – and it’s a decent, sensible test, it’s something of a step-up for the 25-year-old.

Ingnatius, born in Austria, based in Dagenham, has lost only once in 11 outings (one draw), but doesn’t appear to carry concussive power, with only one stoppage.

Matty certainly possesses knockout power: it’s the other parts of his game trainer Peter Fury has been working on.

Six of his nine wins have come early and four of his first five fights were over in a single round. That run sparked excitement among press and public who hailed Matty as the next big thing.

It was too early for such lofty predictions. The man mountain “turned over” after a limited amateur career and still had much to learn.

The hype was halted in his sixth fight. Harris dropped rock chinned Ukrainian Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko, then appeared to run out of gas and was throwing nothing back when the ref intervened in the fifth.

Under Fury, who he joined after that sole loss, Harris – a diehard Coventry City supporter - has recovered well. More measured and disciplined in the ring, he’s strung together a four fight winning run and manager McCracken has decided to up the ante with a match against Ignatius.

“It’s a good domestic step up,” Max told me. “Ignatius is a tough, game opponent who, with only one loss on his record, will come to win.

He vowed: “This will bring out the best in Matty. Training is going well with Peter Fury who’s doing a great job, so we are looking for a standout performance to push Matty up the British rankings. “Matty is a real powerhouse, but he’s also a boxer with real skills. Expect this to be a really exciting fight while it lasts. I expect Matty to get himself back in the limelight and in Britain’s Top 10 – and that could be with a big KO or a breakdown job. Matty has the tools to do both.

Max added: “Coventry has an exciting, quality heavyweight to follow – and he’s a big Coventry City fan.”  

Brighton should prepare to be rocked.