Tony Harrison and Bryant Perrella fight to split draw

Tony Harrison ended a 16-month layoff by fighting a game Bryant Perrella. Harrison showed some rust and Perrella boxed well through 12.

Before his April 17 bout against Bryant Perrella, Tony Harrison told FanSided that he had many questions about himself. I’m not sure he found many answers after his performance.

A lot was weighing on Harrison heading into this fight. He hadn’t fought for 16 months. Harrison (28-3-1,21 KOs) was stopped in round 11 by Jermell Charlo in their December 2019 rematch, losing his WBC junior middleweight title in the process.

Harrison and his family were also grieving the loss of his father, Ali Salaam, who passed away from COVID-19 last April. Salaam was also Harrison’s trainer. As stated earlier, Harrison wondered if he could return to top form considering all he’s been through. He didn’t look bad but wasn’t at his best.

Harrison and Perrella fought at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles, CA. It was the main event of the PBC on FOX fight card. Perrella showed some flair during his ring walk, coming out to DMX and dressed in a suit coat and fedora to play off his “Goodfella” nickname.

Harrison stalked Perrella during round 1 but had a hard time getting inside on the southpaw Perrella for the first two minutes. In the last minute Harrison caught Perrella on the ropes and touched him with the right hand. Perrella got in one decent shot with his left, but both fighters tried to find their rhythm.

Tony Harrison looked a step behind but kept things close against Bryant Perrella.

Harrison and Perrella mixed it up early in round 2. Perrella started the action, but Harrison started to land his right cross to the head. Harrison’s punches sent Perrella’s head flying back on several occasions. Perrella stayed in tough but got the worst of it.

Perrella (17-3-1, 14 KOs) had a better round 3. He stayed on his back foot but tagged Harrison with uppercuts when he advanced. Harrison’s punch output dropped and Perrella’s increased. Perrella showed quality boxing skills and seemed to surprise Harrison with his strategy and execution.

Things were quieter in rounds 4 and 5, but Perrella landed some bombs to start round 6. He came at Harrison with hooks to the head and body. Harrison took them and didn’t offer much back. Perrella also connected with several uppercuts. Harrison still couldn’t let his hands go.

The second half of the fight included a lot of back and forth action, but Perrella appeared to be the more active and accurate boxer for most of the rounds. Harrison had his moments, but Perrella kept up his pace better. There were several close rounds, but Harrison didn’t show the same speed and energy as in past fights.

The contest went the full 12 rounds and came down to the judges’ scorecards. They had the fight 116-112 for Harrison, 117-111 for Perrella, and 114-114 a draw. The end result was a split draw.

Perrella seemed to edge Harrison, but there were several rounds that were hard to score. Regardless, Harrison didn’t look like he was in prime form. This fight didn’t hurt his career, but it didn’t help it either.