Harris’ rise to fame started with a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter who’s article on the backwoods boxing family became the sports article of the year and ended in Los Angeles in his 12-round fight against Floyd Patterson. A lot say, you’re Roy Harris? Then they’ll begin to tell how they know me. “It’s good, but then you can’t enjoy real life. I was popular with everybody all the time,” he said. “I decided I wanted to live a normal life myself. The real story of Roy Harris’ life was how different he was from his boxing brethren.Īfter working as a real estate agent in Polk County, he won an election for Montgomery County clerk and served 28 years, retiring in 1995. I always enjoyed taking people who thought they could handle me real easy and educating them slowly.” Probably had the best left jab of anybody in the business,” he said. A married man with children, he said he wanted to do more with his life. Army, where he rose to the rank of captain, and another 12 years in the reserves during the Korean War and Cuban Missile Crisis.īut in 1961, at the age of 28, Harris stepped out of the boxing ring. His participation earned him two scheduled years in the U.S. Still making headlines for his boxing prowess and country roots, he enrolled at Sam Houston State University, excelling as an honor student, and entered the ROTC program.
Roy Harris went on to win the state’s Golden Gloves tournament four consecutive times.