Boxing manager Bobby Harrison has gone from a business owner and self-described private person to investing half of his working hours into boxing.
The Houston-based Harrison got involved in boxing when working with a notable fighter he refused to name and is no longer associated with. After being introduced to the sport, Harrison caught the boxing bug.
In the course of two years, Harrison has developed a roster of fighters, including two unbeaten prospects who he has high hopes for: featherweight Eliesel Rodriguez Ledesma and junior middleweight Rafael Abreu. Harrison met them through another one of his fighters, Eridson Garcia, a junior lightweight who is originally from the Dominican Republic and trains in Houston. Ledesma and Abreu are also from the Dominican Republic.
Harrison is excited about what Ledesma could do in the future.
“He has a really interesting story,” Harrison told BoxingScene. “He joined the military when he was 16 and became a paratrooper, like an elite soldier. He was in the military up until last year.”
Ledesma turned professional in December and is already 2-0 (2 KOs).
“He’s 22 and now he’s going to focus solely on boxing,” Harrison said. “They have an annual military boxing tournament that he won every year when he was in the military. He is also a three-time national champ at 126lbs, so we have really high hopes for him.”
The goal is for Ledesma to move into a meaningful fight at some point. In his two fights, he has only gone four rounds. Harrison wants to move Ledesma quickly.
“He’s not someone who we need to be timid with,” Harrison said. “He’s been an elite soldier for the last four years. He’s very mature for his age. Even when you meet him, he’s got a very stoic, mature demeanor about him. When you interact with him, he shows a lot of maturity, and he does that in the ring also. He just stalks people down, handles his business, gets out of the ring and waits for the next fight.”
Abreu, at 20 years old, has high hopes. He turned professional in August and is 4-0 (3 KOs).
“Not as accomplished, as far as awards as an amateur, but he’s also someone we’re not scared to move fast,” Harrison said. “He was ranked 300th or something on BoxRec in his second fight. He’ll fight anyone, matter of fact. I mean, he’d fight a champion tomorrow if I told him he needed to.”
The plan for Abreu is activity. The hope is to get him three fights by the end of April, with a potential bout taking place at the end of this month. Nothing yet is confirmed.
“He’s got a style similar to [David] Benavidez,” Harrison said. “When I was watching that fight [with David Morrell] the other night, I thought [Abreu] fights very similar to this guy, very heavy hands, constantly moving forward, never taking a step back. We have very high hopes for him.”
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