US Middleweight Contender- Ronnie Harris

He was managed by the inept rappaport and Jones, along with fellow gold medallist Howard davis jr.

Quite a frightening looking fighter as far as the tools he had to draw from, but one of those guys where something was just missing, as far as the mentality goes.I thnk he was doing some sort of degree while fighting and was often inactive.

Once he got going against Seales, tonna and Minter he looked like one of the best middleweights around..him, Halger, Antuofermo, Kalule and Minter were the middles at that point who were cutting swathes through the division and looking at title shots.

He got his shot probably unfairly ahead of Hagler against corro, and more or less showed he wasn't a big time fighter(at least at that point)by choking in front of a hostile argentine crowd.Similar to Davis against Watt, though this was a much closer fight and one that Harris really should have won had he come anywhere near the form he showed against Minter.

Unlike Davis he didn't pick himself up from the loss and that was it from him, getting stopped by the huge punching but very limited Nesmith.

Stylistically he was a good southpaw technician without notable power, but with excellent hand and foot speed and reflexes.Very nice jab, good mover and could double and triple the hook beautifully.Had a sort of Tommy Hearns/Roy Jones habit of rolling his head and jabbing arm from side to side as a feint.

Overall a good fighter who would be very strong in 10 round non-title bouts, but who failed in his big chance and was lacking the authority to really stamp his style on fights perhaps.Less than the sum of the parts.

The Minter bout is the one to get, a very stylish fast paced technical fight.

 

He was the fastest middleweight in the world during his day, and perhaps even more avoided than Hagler before 1978. Corro was heavily inspired by his Argentinian fans to rally late and save his championship during their 1978 title fight. On neutral turf, Harris might well have won it.

Monzon was probably relieved to get out before all these southpaw middleweights got to the championship level. That was a bizarre profusion of lefties which surfaced-Kalule, Harris, Hagler, Minter, Hamsho, Seales...

 

I don't know how truly inept the "Whacko Twins" could have been, considering the financial deals they got for Davis and Cooney with more hype than substance.

Which again raises questions about how inept Rappaport and Jones could have been. They were not trainers, but managers. Considering what they did achieve, I sometimes wonder if they don't belong in Canastota

True enough. It's been written that if justice is blind, then greatness is deaf. Whether or not a crowd is supportive or hostile shouldn't make a difference to a true champion.

Good analysis, lora.

This is where the management of Rappaport and Jones really hurt their charges. Boxers under their guidance frequently seemed to lack the hunger and drive needed to get to the top level. (Jones ultimately did manage Billy Costello to a championship after splitting with Rappaport, who apparently was the real goof in that tandem.)

Clearly the best win of his career. Had he kept himself together like Davis did after Watt, maybe Jones and Rappaport could have maneuvered him into a second title shot (especially after Hagler's draw with Vito), maybe even a championship rematch with Minter, which actually might have been promotable despite the style of Harris, given what happened between the two in 1977.

 

The analysis of Harris on this thread is far better than I could provide, but I'd concur that he was much avoided for his trickiness and difficulty of style.

I saw his last hurrah being knocked out by Sammy NeSmith here in Indy. He had NeSmith tired, ready to fall, and completely dominated when NeSmith caught him with a desperation shot for the kayo. I suspect Harris would have been heard from further if not for the fluke loss.

 

Thread inspired me to watch Corro vs Harris

Early doors Harris looked sharp and a good fighter. His speed was keeping him out the way of Corro's punches and Harris's offence looked good as he kept out a snappy jab regularly and at times had some fast straight lefts and combinations.
As it wore on Corro started to apply pressure by his use of feints and defence, this made Harris hesitant and Corro took advantage with hard counters. It basically stayed the same till the end.
From this fight I would say Harris's main weakness was his suscepitbility to counters and his hesitance when faced with feints and a good defence.

My Scorecard

Corro: 5,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
Harris: 1,2,3,4,7
Total: 145-140 Corro (10-5)

Also Lora that was an awesome break down of Harris

 

Yeah, and he let Corro get off first throughout with the right hand. looked a lot slower and was pawing tentatively with the jab as well.Just didn't deliver overall.


And props to Corro.I've never rated him highly, but he was willful and fought to the best of his abilities here, made some good well-schooled moves and threw the right well.If he had fought like that against Vito it might have been enough there, but he showed nowhere near the same determination or poise.

 

Yeh. He had the potential to do more in taht fight.

Why dont you rate Corro that highly?

All I have seen of him is that fight, but he looked pretty handy. I have his rematch with Briscoe to watch so maybe that will give me a better idea of Corro.

 

I agree with Lora and Lobotomy. I remember Harris being one of the best middleweights around in 1977-78. Harris crashed the top five rankings by stopping Alan Minter on cuts in London. That was regarded as a huge upset, and American national television even replayed the tape afterwards.

Harris was incredibly fast. Excellent combination puncher. He used his southpaw advantage perfectly. The downside to him is that he didn't have much power.

I remember watching the Hugo Corro fight on television in 1978, and thinking to myself that it was very difficult to score. It was a chess match of a fight, and for TV viewers it was hard to tell if each guy's punches were connecting or if they were being slipped or picked off by gloves.

Even though Harris was a deserving, top five contender, it is true that he was unfairly given a title shot ahead of Marvin Hagler.

As for the rest of Harris's career, he fell fast and suddenly after the Corro defeat, losing to inferior boxers. I guess Harris lost his motivation.

 

Rematch with Valdez, i take it you mean?.


he's too languid for me.Just never looked entirely convincing as a pure boxer, though he was well-schooled enough.I think he would struggle to contain a lot of aggression, unless it was of the plodding unimaginative nature Valdez gave him.Not much offense most of the time and seemed to be the kind of fighter who can be got to mentally and made to throw even less, which is not good for a guy who is looking to fight mostly off the backfoot without a lot of power.he wasn't the sharpest of fighters in general offensively.

His fight with Vito is a damn bad non-effort.That said i've little doubt he'd do well were he around today, middleweight Abraham, taylor and Pavlik are the kind of unintelligent plodders a cagey fighter like him can feast on.Though he might not react too well if they do manage to land some good hard shots.

i'd rate him above most of the other recent high profile middleweights other than obviously Hopkins, and maybe Tito.Tito was thoroughly mechanical, and really no better than the past prime Vadez that he beat twice however.

Once you get to the better era's from the early nineties and earlier though, there are a lot of fighters who i think were at least as good.

 

Lora's summarizing Corro very well, and I'm inclined to defer to his evaluations.

As this wasn't addressed to me, I hope you'll forgive my intrusion.

While the outcome of Ali-Spinks I was leading to the splintering of the heavyweight title, and as Duran never defended the lightweight championship after unifying it against DeJesus, the middleweight crown was the only undisputed one which was stable. That it did not split when Monzon retired, but transferred intact with decorum and ceremony, is one of the incredible events in boxing during the 1970s. Valdez-Brisco III was not a great fight, but it was great history, and recognized as such. Monzon was a household name in the United States despite remaining abroad in continental Europe and South America. (Licata in Madison Square Garden was the one exception, a very special occasion.)

Because of the enormous prestige of that title, Monzon's immediate successors enjoyed live network coverage of their defenses at a time when this wasn't always typical of lighter weight fighters. Unfortunately, Corro's title fights proved to be dull affairs, and he was represented as, "an unusually colorless champion," compared to the glamorous Monzon, menacing Hagler and scrappy brawler Antuofermo. Corro suffered in comparison to Minter as well. He simply didn't seem a worthy successor to King Carlos. Vito was regarded as an exciting fighter, so Corro took the blame for his title loss being considered a snoozer. A veteran of over 50 fights at just 26, he retired an ex champion. (This makes his capitulation to Antuofermo most revealing. Maybe he should have stayed in Argentina, where the crowds would have again pushed him as they did against Harris.)

Immediately following his draw with Hagler, Vito emphatically told Cosell that he would rather have a rematch with Marv than face Corro again, and he repeated this.

With greater determination to fight for his title, Corro may not have been the picnic for Hagler everybody assumed he'd be. (As it was, many sportswriters scored him the winner over Antuofermo.) It wasn't possible for a patsy to win that title by getting lucky in that era. They were all formidable, including Corro. With the commitment of an Antuofermo or Hagler, he might have held onto the title for a few more defenses. Consider how long Marv was on top. Corro was only six months older than Hagler. Corro was always going to be dull and colorless. My beef with him is that he did not make the most of his ability, despite lasting at the top for a year.

(This is one of those posts I typically delete after review, but what the hell.:-(( I'm going with it.)

 

Just had a quick look, and Corro's fights with Vito and Valdez (2) are on youtube if anyone feels like checking him out.

 

I doubt Monzon was relieved to get out.

He would have destroyed Kalule, Harris, Hamsho, Seales and Minter and would have clearly beated Hagler.

Monzon feared no one.

 

Thanks, and yeh it was the second Valdez fight my bad, I can see why you dont think too highly off him. He looked good against Harris but he did lack that offensive sharpness as you mention.

Also Lobotomy very interesting post thanks for that