Rangy boxer-puncher Vivian Harris held the WBA junior welterweight title in the early-mid 2000s and was considered one of the premier fighters at that time in what was a stacked division.

Harris, who was second to last of 10 children, was born in Georgetown, Guyana on June 17, 1978. His father was a former military captain, who dabbled in promoting, while his mother was a stay-at-home mother.

"Growing up Georgetown was a blessing, it taught me a lot," Harris told The Ring. "It was great playing outside playing in the streets.”

His elder brother, Wayne, boxed and unsuccessfully challenged Reggie Johnson for the WBA middleweight title in 1993.

Initially Harris played soccer before taking up boxing at 7 years-old.

When his parents divorced, he moved to live Brooklyn with his mother at 15 and he took his new life in his stride.

"A lot of West Indian [people] came to Brooklyn, so it was like the same environment but better living," he explained. "[Boxing] was one of the reasons I was happy to come to Brooklyn."

Harris attempted to qualify for Guyana at the 1996 Olympics but lost in the trials and returned to America, where he won the New York Golden Gloves in 1997 and signed promotional forms with Main Events.

He turned professional, after going 45-5 in as an amateur, in Tunica, Mississippi in November 1997.

Harris won his first 15 fights before stepping up to 10-round level against Gairy St. Clair at the famed Blue Horizon, in Philadelphia in December 1999.

"I was kind of mad at him to do that because we was from the same country and I felt like he was trying to stop what I was trying to do for our country," said Harris, who won a 10-round unanimous decision.

In his next outing, he lost his unbeaten record against veteran former two-time world title challenger Ray Oliveira in February 2000.

After being held to a draw by Ivan Robinson (D 10), he notched five wins including gaining a measure of revenge for his older brother by knocking out Reggie Johnson's cousin Golden Johnson (KO 3).

Harris was given a title opportunity against WBA junior welterweight titlist Diobelys Hurtado in Houston, Texas, in October 2002 and gratefully accepted, scoring a second-round stoppage, which led to a huge celebration, firstly in Brooklyn, before returning to Guyana.

"The President at that time brought me back home and gave me some money and land for becoming world champion for my country and gave me the keys for the city," he said proudly.

However, when the dust settled, Harris was unable to capitalize on this newfound success and defend his title.

"My promoters were playing games,” he said of not fighting for nine-months. "They were just looking for big money fights just to put it in their pockets, and they didn't have to promote it because the contract I signed with them is that if I find on another promoter’s card, I have to give them 33 percent, why would they promote [me]? And that's what they started doing, having me fight on different promoter’s cards. I was upset about that."

Despite the distraction and discord, Harris dropped M'baye in the second-round and went on to win a comfortable 12-round unanimous decision.

Harris then took his WBA belt to Berlin, Germany, where he met Oktay Urkal in April 2004.

"If I'm not fighting on another promoter’s card, I'm not fighting,” he said. It was a good fight; I was always confident and won the fight [by 12-round majority decision.]"

Six-months later the two met in a rematch, this time Harris won by 11th-round TKO.

There had been talk of Harris facing the popular Ricky Hatton but for financial reasons he elected to take another path.

"I turned that fight down because they didn't want to pay me the money that I wanted to get paid because I knew I had to pay [my promoter] because I'm fighting on Ricky Hatton's promoter’s card," he said. "The offer was $750,000, I wanted $1 million because $350,000 is going to Main Events and I still had to pay my manager, I think 20 percent, I still had to pay my trainers and taxes, so I wasn't coming out with no money for a big fight like that in a different country.”

Instead, Harris met unheralded Colombian Carlos Maussa in late June 2005.

"They were mad at me because I didn't go to London to fight," he said. "So, I take the fight on the Mayweather-Gatti [undercard] and they weren't going to make any money from that fight because they were part of the promotion. They give me the fight and take my belt from me."

Harris rebounded strongly and landed a shot at the WBC title against Junior Witter, in London, in September 2007.

"Witter was a good fighter, he had a game plan, and the game plan was to box and not get hit," said Harris, who was stopped in seven rounds.

"It was one of those nights the better man won and he won. When I look back, I fought ignorant, I just wanted to knock his head off.”

Harris career drifted and over the next couple of years, he fell into gatekeeper status losing to the likes of Lucas Matthysse (TKO 4), Victor Ortiz (KO 3) and Jessie Vargas (RTD 1).

Harris (33-12-2, 19 KOs) had two fights with faded former junior welterweight titlist Demarcus Corley, winning the first (UD 10) and losing the second (UD12), before retiring.

Harris, now 47, is married, has three children and lives in Jersey City. He has invested his money in real estate and buying property in Florida and Atlanta.

He graciously took time to speak to The Ring about the best he fought in 10 key categories.

Prichard Colon: "He was a very tall guy, and he used his height well. We both had a good jab, but he was taller, and his jab connected faster than mine."

Gairy St. Clair: "He had an old school kind of style. Very slick. He can fight southpaw and orthodox, he switched. Difficult to land a clean shot on, same thing with Junior Witter."

Junior Witter: "His hand speed was OK, he just had an awkward style, and I was not patient and ran into his punch."

St. Clair: "He could box very well; he can be right in front of you and also move around you."

Witter: "He knew I could punch, so he became a better counterpuncher, taking his time and placing shots."

Lucas Matthysse: "He was physically strong, I hit him with everything, and he was still coming."

St. Clair: "I hit him with some good shots, and he was still there."

Matthysse: "He hit hard."

St. Clair: "He was an experienced fighter and very talented. He can fight, he could move around the ring, he can do it all."

Witter: "He have a very awkward style, but he can box and punch as well, so that made him very difficult."