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Former junior welterweight titlist Vivian Harris has been given a full release from his contract with Gary Shaw Promotions, declaring himself a free agent and looking to move forward with his career. Press release:
The 30-year-old Harris understands that time is precious and that he cannot afford suffer anymore long stretches of inactivity.
"I am putting the past behind me. My main goal is to stay as active as possible," says Harris, who has only fought once in the last year and a half. "I know that the junior welterweight division is loaded with talent, and I believe that I am up there with the best of them. I just want to fight. I'm ready."
Harris is trained by famed veteran trainer Tommy Brooks and managed by Humberto Romero. Harris is hungry to get back inside the ring as soon as possible and is open to fighting anyone in the junior welterweight division.
Harris is unlikely to storm back onto the scene as a legitimate contender at 140. He had a deal in place to fight Victor Ortiz earlier this year, but wound up pricing himself out of the bout and was replaced by Mike Arnaoutis. On pure speculation, that could mean one of two things: (1) Shaw felt Harris was unrealistic about his demands and decided nothing could be done about it, or (2) Harris felt Shaw was incapable of getting him the best deals. Or it could be a mixture of the two, but it would seem as though the fall-through of Ortiz-Harris was the last straw for their business relationship. Best of luck to Vivian getting his career back on track.