Glen Johnson is a professional league boxer from Jamaica who played in the first heavyweight. IBF World Light Heavyweight Champion in 2004. During his career, he held 77 fights, including 54 wins, 21 losses and 2 draws.
Glen Johnson - biography
Born January 2, 1969 in the city of Clarendon, Jamaica. He started boxing from the age of 16. Hard and grueling training was not in vain - the guy began to win in various amateur tournaments of city and national scale. In 1993, Glen Johnson made his debut in professional boxing. The Jamaican “Road Warrior” (the nickname of the boxer) did not know defeats and for 4 years he gave out knockouts to his rivals left and right. Experts say that at the beginning of his career, Johnson had mostly weak rivals, who lost in the classics of the genre. Thus, the young and promising Jamaican boxer Glen Johnson built up experience and replenished his own statistics with new victories.
In February 1997, Glen went to the American boxer Sam Garr, who previously did not know defeats and had on his account statistics of 20 wins and 0 losses. During the battle, the rivals delivered crushing blows to each other and demonstrated a motivated and aggressive duel. Nevertheless, the young Jamaican was stronger and came out victorious. This was the first significant victory, after which the boxer began to be treated with respect and respect.
The streak of victories was interrupted briefly
In July 1997, a duel was held with the current IBF middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. The Road Warrior still did not know defeats, its statistics were already 32-0. There was maximum interest in this fight from the audience and fans. Indeed, there are two world professionals in the ring - the world champion and the unbroken Glen Johnson. During the battle, Bernard Hopkins dominated. In the 11th round, according to the decision of the referee, the fight was stopped - Johnson got 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 the second and third. After Hopkins, The Road Warrior met in the ring with Dominican Markui Sosa and Ugandan Joseph Kiwangu. In these confrontations, Johnson lost on points.
After a 3-time series of defeats, Glen nevertheless managed to rehabilitate himself. In April 1999, he defeated the American Troy Watson in the battle for the title of Continental Champion of America by the WBC. It would seem that the Road Warrior was back on track, but it wasn’t there. In November 1999, Johnson met with German boxer and IBF champion in the 2nd middle weight category Sven Ottake (boxer statistics: 16 wins and 0 losses). The Jamaican lost on points, but in this battle there were many controversial decisions. The fact is that the match took place in Germany, and here it is very difficult to overcome the German, and even with the German judges.
After a fiasco in the battle with Ottake, the Jamaican lost 3 more matches in a row. This time, such professionals as Canadian Sidu Vanderpulu (27 wins and 1 loss), Italian Silvio Branco (38 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses) and American Omar Sheika (19 wins and 1 loss) became on his way.
Go to light heavyweight category
In 2001, Glen Johnson decided to challenge himself and move to light heavyweight. And here it turned out to be even more difficult. The debut in the new weight category was a real test for the Jamaican boxer. In July 2001, Johnson confidently defeated German boxer Thomas Wilrich (20 wins and 0 losses) by knockout. Then two misfires happened - a loss to Derrick Harmon in April 2002 and Julio Cesar González 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 the victory.
IBF Light Heavyweight World 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 difficult and equal, therefore, in the course of the referee's decision, a draw verdict was issued. After the fight, the rivals began to negotiate a re-fight. In February 2004, the second fight for the IBF champion title took place. Re-entering the ring turned out to be just as difficult, but Glen managed to snatch a victory and win the first vacant world title in his career.
The legendary battle against Roy Jones Jr.
After a triumph in the battle for the IBF championship, Glen Johnson's career soared. Global tabloids and the media have begun increasingly to devote their themes to the new champion. Soon, the global boxing community is looking forward to the duel of the century - Roy Jones Jr. against Glen Johnson. This time, the Jamaican was supposed to defend his league title, but was considered a clear outsider against the American light heavyweight king.
September 25, 2004 this long-awaited match took place. Forecasts of bookmakers came down to the victory of the American in the ratio of 1: 5. Apparently this was motivated by Glen Johnson, because he clearly did not agree with this fact 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 circumstances - Glen defended his status.
After 3 months, the next match took place. It was a fight for the IBO champion and The Ring light heavyweight title against Antonio Tarver. The match was equal, but Glen managed to carry out a series of successful attacks during the last rounds, thanks to which he scored extra points and was declared the winner. In 2004, Jamaicans were recognized as the best boxer of the year by The Ring magazine.
