Glen Johnson is a professional league boxer from Jamaica who competed in the cruiserweight division. IBF World Light Heavyweight Champion in 2004. During his career, he had 77 fights, including 54 wins, 21 losses and 2 draws.
Glen Johnson - biography
Born January 2, 1969 in Clarendon, Jamaica. He started boxing at the age of 16. Hard and exhausting training was not in vain - the guy began to win in various amateur tournaments of the city and national scale. Glen Johnson made his professional boxing debut in 1993. The Jamaican "Road Warrior" (nickname of the boxer) did not know defeat and for 4 years gave his opponents knockouts right and left. Experts say that at the beginning of his career, Johnson had mostly weak rivals, who, according to the classics of the genre, lost. Thus, the young and promising Jamaican boxer Glen Johnson increased his experience and replenished his own statistics with regular victories.
In February 1997, Glen went to the American boxer Sam Garr, who previously did not know defeat and had statistics of 20 wins and 0defeats. During the fight, the opponents delivered crushing blows to each other and demonstrated a motivated and aggressive fight. Nevertheless, the young Jamaican turned out to be stronger and emerged victorious. This was the first significant victory, after which the boxer was treated with reverence and respect.
The winning streak was briefly interrupted
In July 1997, he fought the reigning IBF middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. "Road Warrior" still did not know defeat, his statistics were already 32-0. There was the maximum interest from the spectators and fans to this duel. No wonder, because two world professionals meet in the ring - the world champion and the unbroken Glen Johnson. During the fight, Bernard Hopkins dominated. In the 11th round, by decision of the referee, the fight was stopped - Johnson received a technical knockout, and with it the first defeat in his career. It is worth noting that this was the only early defeat of the Jamaican in his entire career.
The first defeat was followed by a second and a third. After Hopkins, the "Road Warrior" met in the ring with Dominican Markui Sosa and Ugandan Joseph Kivangu. In these confrontations, Johnson lost on points.
After a 3-time series of defeats, Glen still managed to rehabilitate himself. In April 1999, he defeated American Troy Watson for the WBC American Continental Championship. It would seem that the "Road Warrior" returned to his track, but no such luck. In November 1999 Johnsonmet with the German boxer and IBF champion in the 2nd middle weight category Sven Ottak (boxer's statistics: 16 wins and 0 losses). The Jamaican lost on points, but there were many controversial decisions in this fight. The fact is that the fight took place in Germany, and here it is very difficult to overcome the German, and even with the German judging staff.
After the fiasco in the fight with Ottake, the Jamaican lost 3 more fights in a row. This time, such professionals as Canadian Sidu Venderpoolu (27 wins and 1 loss), Italian Silvio Branco (38 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses) and American Omar Sheika (19 wins and 1 loss) stood in his way.
Move to light heavyweight division
In 2001, Glen Johnson decides to challenge himself and move up to light heavyweight. And here it turned out to be even more difficult. The debut in a new weight category turned out to be a real test for the Jamaican boxer. In July 2001, Johnson confidently defeated the German boxer Thomas Wilrich (20 wins and 0 losses) by knockout. Then there were two misfires - a loss to Derrick Harmon in April 2002 and Julio Cesar Gonzalez in January 2003. Six months later, Glen met in the ring with Eric Harding. The fight was almost equal, but Johnson still managed to win.
IBF World Light Heavyweight Champion
In November 2003, Johnson had a good chance to compete for the IBF title. This time his opponent was the British boxer Clinton Woods. The fight was hard and equal, therefore, in the course of the referee's decision,no verdict. After the fight, the rivals began to negotiate for a second fight. In February 2004, the second fight for the title of IBF champion took place. The re-entry to the ring was just as difficult, but Glen managed to snatch victory and win the first vacant world title in his career.
Legendary fight against Roy Jones Jr
Glen Johnson's career skyrocketed after his IBF title triumph. World tabloids and the media began to increasingly devote their topics to the new champion. Soon, the world boxing community is looking forward to the fight of the century - Roy Jones Jr. vs. Glen Johnson. This time, the Jamaican had to defend his champion title, but was considered a clear underdog against the American king in light heavyweight.
On September 25, 2004, this long-awaited duel took place. Forecasts of bookmakers came down to the victory of the American in the ratio of 1:5. Apparently, Glen Johnson was motivated by this, because he clearly did not agree with this circumstance of affairs. As a result, the "Road Warrior" managed to impose his boxing on the ex-world champion and knocked him out in the 9th round. Spectators and fans did not expect such a sharp turn of events - Glen defended his status.
After 3 months, the next fight took place. It was an IBO and The Ring light heavyweight title fight against Antonio Tarver. The fight was equal, but Glen managed to hold a series during the last roundssuccessful attacks, thanks to which he scored additional points and was declared the winner. In 2004, the Jamaican was recognized as the best boxer of the year by The Ring magazine.
Further career
After several years at the height of his fame, Johnson's career began to decline again. In 2005, he lost to the same Trever in a rematch, and in 2006 he lost to the well-known Clinton Woods. In subsequent years, in the career of the "Road Warrior", of course, there were victories, but they were diluted with a series of defeats and draws. He faced such boxers as Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud (the undisputed leaders of the division), however, despite the fact that he lost, he looked decent. In 2010, Glen announced his retirement from the world of boxing, but returned a year later. The last fight took place in August 2015 against the Turkish boxer Avni Yildirim. The fight was for the WBC International Silver title, and Glen had a good chance of winning, but the opponent turned out to be stronger.
Undoubtedly, Glen Johnson is a world boxing professional who left a mark on his history. Nevertheless, his protracted career only came at a loss to his rating and status. Between 2010 and 2015, Johnson had 14 fights, among which he lost 8 times and won 6 times.
Interesting fact: the Jamaican boxer has a famous namesake - this is Stoke City football player Glen Johnson (photo above).
