Mention Montgomery County Texas or Cut-and-Shoot to a stranger from across, not only Texas, but the US and if they were born in the 30s-40s-50s they are likely to ask if you know “Roy Harris”? Roy Harris has been an ambassador for Texas and Montgomery County since in his teens—–even though at the time he may not have known just how important his name would become to Montgomery County.
Roy grew up in Cut-n-Shoot Texas where he became, as a young boy, interested in boxing and began participating in the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competitions in Houston. His potential as a boxer began to show. His training and persistence led to the match that remain in people’s mind as the one that could have changed boxing history—a fight with boxer, Floyd Patterson. Even though, Floyd was declared winner by technical knockout, Roy was really the winner to those who witnessed the fight and his name would have a permanent place in boxing history! He went on to fight Sonny Liston who eventually defeated Patterson and who then was defeated by Muhammed Ali for the heavyweight title. After ending his final record of 31-5, including nine victories by knockout, he decided to do something else.
At the time of his boxing career, Roy was a rarity as a boxer with a college degree—a bachelor’s degree in vocational agriculture and a minor in science that he earned in 1955. After hanging up his gloves, he continued taking classes and earned a license to practice law, becoming the only former heavyweight title contender to become a lawyer. In 1967 he won his first fight in the political ring and was elected Montgomery County Clerk, a position he held for the next 28 years.
Even after retirement Roy still remains a legend in Cut-n-Shoot and Montgomery County and I bet he is still available to anyone who needs some legal advice or wants to talk about the Great Fight with Floyd Patterson.
