Hailing from Washington, D.C. with an undefeated professional record of 29-0 (16 KO’s), Dusty Hernandez-Harrison is the number 24 rated welterweight in the world by the WBC and the reigning WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Champion. Touted as “Washington’s best boxing prospect since Sugar Ray Leonard” by the Washingtonian Magazine, Hernandez began fighting at the age of six at the boxing exhibition at the Ritz Nightclub in Northwest D.C. Guided by his father and trainer, Buddy Harrison, who had him “hitting the heavy bag at 4,” Hernandez-Harrison became a sanctioned amateur at the age of 8. At the time of his first pro bout at the age of 17, Hernandez-Harrison compiled an amateur record of 167-30, winning several Ringside World Championships, National Silver Gloves Championships and three straight National Golden Gloves Championships from 2007-09.
On June 11, 2011, as the youngest licensed professional fighter at the time, Hernandez-Harrison made his pro debut defeating Alphonso Alexander via a unanimous decision at the Desoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Six months later in his third pro fight, Hernandez-Harrison made his hometown debut on the undercard of the HBO World Championship Boxing broadcast of Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson and dazzled with a first round technical knockout of Terrell Davis.
On his way to being crowned WBC Youth Welterweight World Champion in November 2013, Hernandez-Harrison stopped former National Golden Gloves Champion Kelly Wright in the fourth round in February of that year and two weeks later defeated Aaron Anderson via a six-round unanimous decision. In April 2013 at Dover Downs Casino and Resort in Dover, Delaware, he won a unanimous decision against Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Garcia and on May 18 in front of a raucous hometown crowd of 3,000 at the University of the District of Colombia, he knocked out Eddie Soto with a right hand in the fifth round. Hernandez-Harrison proceeded to earn the “2013 Knockout of the Year” for the Soto fight and the “2013 Fighter of the Year” from Go Fight Live (GFL.TV). A little over a month later on June 29, he defeated former WBO Africa Champion Ben Ankrah, controlling the bout with his jab and on August 23 scored a second round knockdown of Guillermo Valdes with a perfectly-timed double left-hook to the body and head, which eventually led to a fourth round technical knockout victory. On November 2, 2013 at Madison Square Garden, Hernandez-Harrison became the WBC Youth World Champion winning a ten-round, unanimous decision over Josh “Pit Bull” Torres.
Two months later, in his first nationally televised fight on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, Hernandez-Harrison outlasted Tim Witherspoon Jr. via an eighth round unanimous decision victory, after which actor and director Mark Wahlberg tweeted that Hernandez-Harrison is “the truth.” Featured again on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights on March 7, 2014, Hernandez-Harrison faced southpaw Mike Balasi. After being knocked down in round two, fueled with great heart and perseverance, Hernandez-Harrison came back to drop Balasi to the canvas twice en route to a six-round unanimous decision victory.
On January 9, 2015, soon after signing a promotional agreement with Roc Nation Sports, Hernandez-Harrison headlined the promoter’s inaugural event at The Theater at Madison Square in a fight televised by Fox Sorts 1. In a battle for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Championship against New Yorker Tommy “The Razor” Rainone, Hernandez-Harrison scored a dominant ten-round unanimous decision victory.
In his next fight on April 17, 2015, Hernandez-Harrison scored an eight-round unanimous decision over Chris Grey at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. He followed that with a fifth round stoppage win over Winston Vazquez at Mana Wynwood Studios in Miami, Florida on August 15; and a quick, first round knockout victory over James Wayka at The Masonic Temple in Norfolk, Virginia on September 26.
To open the year, Hernandez-Harrison scored a decisive win over Angel Hernandez by way of a third round technical knockout on January 29, 2016 at The Belvedere in Elk Grove, Illinois. The undefeated welterweight returned to the ring on Friday, May 13 to fight Bakersfield, California’s Mike “The Silent Assassin” Dallas Jr. in a 10-round bout at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. In front of hometown fans and over broadcast on BET and Tidal.com, Hernandez-Harrison drew a split decision to remain undefeated with a record of 29-0-1, 16 Kos.
Hernandez-Harrison is a brand ambassador for FILA and GEICO, and is the only professional boxer to represent the respective prestigious brands.
