Professional boxer Dusty Hernandez-Harrison is set to headline the Beltway Battles on Saturday, one week after his father was fatally shot in Southeast D.C.
Buddy Harrison, a longtime boxing trainer, was killed Saturday.
With a heavy heart, his son explained on Wednesday why he’ll continue to fight.
“I think it’s something that I needed, and I think it's something that my dad would have wanted,” Hernandez-Harrison said. “He was at his best when I was fighting. He loved the fact that I was fighting again.”
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Promoter Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna said he admired Hernandez-Harrison for his perseverance.
“For him going through this pain and going through this hurdle, this obstacle — when he comes out on top, I want it to be a true definition — not of me, I don't have nothing to do with it — but of him and of his character," LaManna said.
The third round of the Beltways Battles will take place at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southeast.
D.C. police were still searching as of Wednesday night for Harrison's killers. Detectives believe he was targeted Saturday morning on 30th Street SE, near Erie Street SE and the Hillcrest Recreation Center. They were searching for a white Kia Optima with Ohio tags.
Hernandez-Harrison had ups and downs with his father over the years. But they were in a good place and his dad was proud to see him get back in the ring, he said. Old School Boxing, in Prince George’s County, reopened Monday. Hernandez-Harrison and the community said they’ll do all they can to keep the doors open and Harrison’s legacy alive.
