By Jake Donovan

By his own admission, fringe junior middleweight contender Willie Nelson arrived at Thursday's press conference in Tampa with every intention of rattling Tony Harrison. The two square off this Saturday at USF Sun Dome in the opening bout of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN, in chief support to a welterweight clash between Keith Thurman and Luis Collazo.

While everyone else who stood at the dais on Thursday took the time to thank one entity or another, Nelson cut right to the chase. First on his hit list was the media, asking all writers in attendance to please raise their hands so he could personally address what he's been reading in the press regarding Saturday's crossoads bout.

"From the sounds of it, this kid knocked me out already, every time I go online," Nelson noted of what he considers to be blatant disrespect among those sizing up this weekend's televised opener. "Do you know where I came from? I'm the youngest of eight kids. I was raised by my sister. I slept on the floor of abandoned homes, where the dirt had more value than my life at times.

"Am I going to let this man take food out of my kid’s mouths? How many times do I have to prove y’all wrong."

Nelson (23-3-1, 13KOs) was once a prospect on the rise before the media began to write him off following an April '11 loss to Vincent Arroyo in a matchup of unbeaten prospects. Arroyo scored three knockdowns en route to claiming a majority decision. On the one hand, the fact that the fight was as close as it was underlines Nelson's boxing ability. On the other hand, his punch resistance was called into question, although he has never been stopped through 26 pro fights.

As his stock plummeted, Nelson turned the tables with what were deemed as upset wins over previously unbeaten Yudel Jhonson and John Jackson in back-to-back fights. All told, the Cleveland native had scored six straight wins before running into Vanes Martirosyan last October, dropping a clear-cut decision in his most recent ring appearance.

The smart money this weekend is on Harrison (21-0, 18KOs), a product of Kronk Gym having previously trained under the late, great Emanuel Steward. The Detroit-based middleweigh has guaranteed a knockout win, but perhaps wasn't entirely prepared for what Nelson had in mind on Thursday.

"I wanted to get Tony pumped up today and get him off of his game plan so we can capitalize on fight night," Nelson admitted afterward of his antics, which led to a brief shoving match between the two and a lot of jawing back and forth before both had to be escorted out of the conference area. "It worked, I even had his team fired up. So I'm extremely confident, it's on to the fight."

Given what he claims to have read about himself in recent weeks, Nelson couldn't help but take one more shot at the doubters.

"Thanks for supporting him, and for coming to see me lose… which is not gonna happen," Nelson quipped to those on hand.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox