By Thomas Gerbasi

November 13, 2004. Madison Square Garden. New York City. On a night filled with heavyweights that provided varying levels of excitement - from Hasim Rahman (who stopped Kali Meehan in four rounds) and Evander Holyfield (who was outpointed by Larry Donald and subsequently banned from fighting in New York), to Chris Byrd and John Ruiz, each of whom defended their portions of the heavyweight crown against Jameel McCline and Andrew Golota, respectively – there was a shining light on the seemingly endless undercard, a light heavyweight named Marcus Johnson who, three days before his 19th birthday, improved to 2-0 as a pro by stopping 1-0 Mateen Haleem.

As I wrote that night, “A light heavyweight swing bout may have produced a future star in Kileen, Texas’ Marcus Johnson, who showed a varied array of skills and punching power in dispatching of Baltimore’s Mateen Haleem in three rounds.”

It should have been the start of something special for the former amateur star, a 2004 National Champion with a 116-11 (70 KOs) record to his name. But after a few years of building up his resume, everything stopped for Johnson after his seventh round knockout of Julio Cesar De La Cruz on the Shane Mosley vs Ricardo Mayorga undercard in September of 2008, basically leading to too little of “Too Much” for most of the next year, not exactly what a 23-year old phenom with prodigious talent, an affable personality, and a crowd-pleasing style needs at this pivotal point of his career.

Luckily for the Texan, when his contract with Don King ran out, Lou DiBella swooped in and scooped him up in June of this year. DiBella got him back in the ring in August on the Juan Diaz vs Paul Malignaggi undercard and while Johnson’s 97 second destruction of 12-10 Matt Gockel won’t propel him up the rankings, the now super middleweight prospect is about to get caught up on some long overdue exposure when he steps into the ring at the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma against Victor Villereal (8-3-2, 4 KOs) in this Friday’s ShoBox opener.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Johnson, 17-0 with 14 KOs. “Coming out, I would have liked to have been fighting someone with a bigger name with a better record, but just the fact that I’m getting exposure is pretty exciting.”

If asking for even bigger game in your first major premium cable bout isn’t enough reason to want to cheer for Johnson, consider the 70 knockouts in his 116 amateur wins, the five fight KO streak and his desire not only to get the win, but to win the crowd, and well, you can see where this one’s going…

“I try not to leave it in the judges’ hands,” said Johnson. “The fans would love to see a knockout, and that’s what I try to do. I try to be a people’s fighter. I like to impress the crowd and the people watching and keep fans wanting to see me.”

And once fans get a look at Johnson, odds are that they’ll want to continue watching him. That’s the good part. The bad part is that it’s taken this long for him to get here, and it’s a problem almost unique to boxing. In the NFL or NBA, if you’re a stellar talent at the college level, the next step is the pro ranks, and if you continue to show the talent you did as an amateur, odds are that big money deals, endorsements, etc will follow as you ply your trade at the highest level of the sport.

In boxing, it doesn’t work that way.

So while fellow amateur stars Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell are currently unbeaten as pros, familiar faces on television and involved in Showtime’s Super Six tournament, Johnson (who just missed out on a berth on the 2004 US Olympic team by losing to Ward in the trials and box-offs by scores of 17-7 and 16-11), has been in boxing’s version of limbo. Sure, there were the spots on high-profile undercards, but when he wasn’t at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MSG, or the Toyota Center, there were many nights at the Doubletree Hotel in Tampa or The Frosted Mug in Morgantown, West Virginia. And when DKP’s fight cards started appearing less and less frequently, so did Johnson.

“It was real frustrating, but it made me work harder at the same time,” said Johnson. “Knowing I have a family to provide for is the main thing, and just really, really wanting it. Even though I wasn’t out there like that, I always wanted it. Seeing those other guys I came up with, it was frustrating, but it gave me the drive to get with them.”

And frankly, boxing is what Marcus Johnson knows, and it’s what he’s known since the age of four, when his father James laced up the mitts on Marcus and his older brother James (a 2004 US amateur champion who currently sports a 7-1 (7 KOs) pro record).

“I didn’t play any other sports – it was strictly boxing, and I’ve been doing it since I was four years old,” said Johnson. “Dad’s been training me and my brother since we were babies, basically, and I just never had the passion to do anything else like I have boxing. I always thought that I had a spot in this sport.”

That feeling got stronger when he won his first national title, and despite his youth, he knows that success in this sport is dependent on giving up things that most 23-year olds can’t live without.

“I always knew that in this game, it’s all about sacrificing,” said the father of two young daughters. “When Sugar Shane Mosley came down here one time, he said that you have to live boxing. Being number two, you’re not gonna be remembered. You’ve always got to try to be number one.”

That was the lesson from one of the sport’s greats. The other lessons came from his father, including the one that has stuck with him through the amateur ranks and into the pros.

“My dad always told us to never leave it in the hands of the judges because you never know what’s gonna happen,” he smiles. “It’s always how I’ve been, ever since the amateurs. I have that killer instinct. I was brought up with it.”

It’s why after falling short of the Olympics at the age of 18, Johnson, his father, and manager James Prince decided that instead of waiting for a shot at the 2008 Games, the pro game would be better suited for a knockout artist with blazing speed and a style that guaranteed a huge audience.

And it is.

It’s just that the game has taken a while to catch up with Marcus Johnson. But on Friday night, the world finally gets to see what Texas has been raving about for all these years.

“I’ve been held back for a long time and I’m just ready to get out there and really get recognized for beating top guys and to get close to a title shot,” said Johnson. “I want people to see a lot of talent, a lot of focus, and good ring generalship. It should be exciting.”