I stumbled across this guy in a magazine I bought before a road trip so I'd have some reading material to keep me busy. I've done a little homework on the guy and it turns out he's a lot more then a simple 24-1 career. So far, this is what I found out: - He has a totally improvisational style. As referenced by Sports Illustrated's Mark Kram, "Artistically, Gypsy is almost beyond description. He is a master at improvisation, a skillful clown whose strange moves are an admixture of a stockade shuffle and a dance created by some demented choreographer. The moves are his best weapons. He is not a dangerous puncher, but, because of the volume and accuracy of his punches, his hands are can openers. There are no blueprints for his fights. "He don't make plans," says Reddish, "because he don't know what he gonna do till he do it." Often, for instance, he will be in the middle of a volcanic flurry and he will suddenly stop, turn away as if he forgot something in his corner and then bing! bing! bing!—he is erupting again.". - Sometime around his fight with Emile Griffith, Joe Harris was discovered to have been fighting while blind in his right eye. Supposedly the blindness began (or was discovered) when he was involved in a Philly gym war with CL Lewis. - Harris rarely trained. He disappeared during his training camp for (then) world welterweight champ Curtis Cokes. Gone for three days, Gypsy Joe was questioned about his whereabouts and responded, "Anywhere the wild goose flies". Other times he was spotted skipping meals and buying lots of candy. Anyways, I'm really curious about this guy and it's a shame there's no footage of this guy to be found. So I thought I'd ask and see what kind of response rolls out. Has anybody ever seen a fight of Gypsy Joe Harris? Was his style as bizarre as they describe it to be?
Unfortunately he was slightly before my time. My Pop-Pop was a big phan of his and talked about him alot. I can't comment upon his style a whole lot due to that, only that he was described as having an unusual style. He was one of the forerunners of the last Golden age of Philly Middle weights. I have seen some guys who he fought like "Kitten" Hayward towards the tail of Hayward's career. Unfortunately I came along just a few years to late! My Pop-Pop always told me he was as good as Monroe (LOL, I can't believe that!!!), Hart, Watts and Briscoe and he would favor him over all of them but Briscoe! He always talked about how he could not believe that he lost Griffith especially since Hayward would go onto beat Griffith in his very next fight, and Harris Handled Hayward quite easily by his estimation. Sorry can't comment much more than that!
Emile Griffith was the only man to beat him. It always impressed me..that and Griffith's win over Dick Tiger, and being the first man to deck Tiger. I remember Curtis Cokes being a bit embarrassed by his loss to Harris, saying "it's hard to fight a guy who's acting like a ******"...nobody could figure him out until Griffith.
Anybody else see Gypsy Joe Harris fight? If anybody can help me out I'd love to know more. I'm just trying to give this guy his due in the pantheon of Philly fighters. Also, I might buy the book written by a relative of Harris to keep the ball rolling. To me, Gypsy Joe Harris is an excellent example of a Philly fighter. All the pluck, talent, and resolve in the world coupled with a sickening amount of confidence only to be snuffed by the Sword of Damocles that the Pennsylvania Boxing Commissioner held over his head. Appariently the commission was aware of Joe's blindness and they let him continue to box.
I'm bumping this, could anybody give me a comparison or a breakdown of this guy's style? Anything? Saying, "I wasn't impressed" is hardly a description for me to apply my imagination towards.
Raging_Bull on this site hase some footage of him, you might want to contact him. As for his style, think of some of the stuff Sweet Pea did, Locche, Paez. Just crazy, gifted, defensive moves. Shoulder rolls, dipping down way low, walking away seemingly not looking ala Lonnie Smith, then throwing a haymaker. The thing was, he was constantly doing this, it was his style, not an occassional throw in during a fight. Not a great fighter, but a great showman, I've enjoyed the footage I've seen of him. A gifted, but very flawed genius.
I've seen a small snippet of the Griffith fight, which was apparently one of the few moments of the fight that Harris got the better of him. He countered sharply and accurately off the ropes. Looked a bit like a clowning Qawi, especially physically.
Yeah, we get you klompton, you're unimpressed. I said he was a flawed genius and not a great fighter. Someone else said he saw a small snippet where he got the better of Griffith. I saw a small snippet (round 2) where Mosley got the better of Mayweather. Doesn't mean ****. Don't splice two people's posts together and fabricate a quote.