Veteran Glen Johnson Joins the Super Six World Boxing Classic
Added on Oct 01, 2010 by Brian Blake in
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Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic successfully overcame the latest hurdle it faced when Mikkel Kessler became the second original entrant to withdraw from the tournament.
SportsBettingWorld.com had previously reported the Dane’s removal stemming from a long standing eye injury that could no longer go ignored. This week it was revealed that his replacement would be Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson.
“I want to thank Showtime for including me in their Super Six tournament,” Johnson said. “Having dedicated so many years to the sport of boxing, it is gratifying to still be considered worthy of competing with some of the top fighters in the world and on such a prestigious platform.”
The 41 year old Johnson (50-14-2, 34 KOs) will be taken on fellow replacement fighter Allan Green in his opening bout which takes place during stage three of the tournament. Green was brought in to replace Jermain Taylor after his withdrawal following his devastating knockout loss to Arthur Abraham in Berlin. The fight will take place on November 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will serve as the televised opener Juan Manuel Lopez defends his WBO Featherweight crown against Rafael Marquez.
No stranger to adversity, it’s quite poetic that Johnson will have to be nothing less than spectacular to make up for lost time if he wishes to make it through the round-robin stage of the tournament. Fact is, nothing in his career has been easy, so why would this be any different?
Johnson’s 12 loss record can actually be quite deceiving as he has been on the losing end of more than his share of poor scoring that range from somewhat controversial to downright criminal. As his nickname suggests, he has no problem fighting in his opponent’s backyard. It is a testament to his professionalism but unfortunately he isn’t always rewarded for it. Throughout his career he’s been knockdown by the judges outside the ring rather than his opponents inside of them. Somehow through it all, he’s always gotten back up and soldiered on.
It is for that very reason that it was that much sweeter when the tough luck fighter finally caught a few breaks, starting with his spectacular knockout win over Roy Jones, Jr. in 2004. After what seemed to be a lifetime of hardships in the ring, things began to turn around and soon he was in the midst of title fights, big paydays and high profile televised bouts.
Johnson’s last outing took place against Tarvoris Cloud in St. Louis where he came up short in his bid to regain the IBF Light Heavyweight title via unanimous decision.
His joining of the Super Six World Boxing Classic will mark the first time Johnson has campaigned in the super middleweight division in over nine years.
“I typically weigh in at 172 pounds for my light heavyweight fights. I will have no trouble making the 168-pound limit as a super middleweight,” Johsnon recently said if the drop in weight.
Despite Johnson entering the tournament in the third and final round robin stage, he can still advance to the semi-finals with a knockout win which would give him three points. He would need help from either Arthur Abraham or WBA Super Middleweight Champion Andre Ward to produce a win which would prevent Carl Froch or Andre Dirrell from improving on the two points they have already scored.
Clearly Johnson has his work cut out for him as he enters the Super Six World Boxing Classic.
If there was ever a fighter that could handle this particular challenge, it would most certainly be Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson.
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October 4, 7:35 pm
Glenn is a solid replacement at this point. I would of like to see someone younger but he works. He and Green probably won’t factor into the finals but it’s a decent fight.