Five Questions With Boxer Winfred 'Hot Boy' Harris Jr.

By: Terry Foster
@terryfoster971

Height/Weight: 6-foot-2, 160 pounds
Hometown: Oak Park
Event: St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Where: Royal Oak Music Theater.
First bout: 7 p.m. Saturday
Ticket information: Call (313) 982-2296 or (313) 485-7165. Ticket prices run from $35 to $125.

Winfred Harris Jr. has a mouth on him. He also has a nice left hook and a mean streak in the ring. He headlines his second professional Middleweight boxing match Saturday at the Royal Oak Music Theater. And he promises blood and victory during when he gets in the ring.
Harris has big goals and spars with talented fighters to reach his goals.

Q: Some boxers are flamboyant. Some want to sell the sport. What type of boxer do you want to be when you really get big?

HARRIS: "Well I'm trying to be humble but I want to sell. I want to sell tickets. I want to sell more than just a little fight. I want to sell an experience. When I fight I want it to be an event that you want to be at. I want it to be some place where everybody wants to be. And you are going to get a little more than a fight. When I come out I am going to give you a show. When I come out after the fight I might have an after party or something. I am going to give you a little flash. I am going to give you all of that. Funny stuff and everything you want to see."

Q: Why should I want to come see you fight? Tell me about your style and what you want to do in the ring.

HARRIS: "I am just going to knock it all out. That is what I am going to do. I take my time and I set it up. I just let it come to me. And (opponents) think they are going to set it up how they want to do. But they don't know that I am making them do what they are doing. They are going to fall into what they need to fall into and they are going to end up falling onto the deck. You should come see me fight because I am not like the regular. On the way out I might have your favorite rapper with me and we might do a little dance or something. It is going to be a good time every time."

Q: Many boxers have stories where they overcome adversity to get where they are today. What is your story?

HARRIS:" I figure everybody does. Before I started boxing I didn't even go to school much. When I got up all I saw was the streets. That is pretty much all you know. I got turned on by boxing. It was a bigger life. It was a bigger horizon and there was more out there than these street things out here. I got into boxing and I started going back to school. I graduated in 2014. I've been on the straight and narrow ever since. I have even been going to church. I have worked hard. I am trying to make it better and make my brand better."

Q: When you walk into the ring are you in chilled mode or hyped up. Where are you mentally before a match?

HARRIS: "The first time I fought it was too much excitement. I could not wait to get into the ring. I might have been too excited. There were like 50 people pulling me and yelling 'come here! come here!' You got to show love to everybody but they (trainers) told me they wanted me to sit down and relax. I had to chill and save my legs. So I just put my head phones on but next time I am going to have my speakers and have the whole thing blasted. I just hard my head phones on but next time I am gong to have my speakers and have the whole thing on blast."

Q: How did you come up with the nickname Hot Boy?

HARRIS: "They used to call me Blaze. It is a name I had being a hot-headed little boy. That was me. Now it is Hot Boy. It kind of goes with Hot Boy going in the ring and it has a ring to it. You will see the fire and the flames. You are about to see the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. I am going to do a little master piece and I am going to paint everything red. There is going to be blood all over the place."