By Rick Reeno

One door closes and another door opens. During the last few weeks negotiations were ongoing to make a cruiserweight fight between Tomasz Adamek and Bernard Hopkins for July 11 on HBO. As most know by now, negotiations fell apart when Hopkins refused to budge from the monetary terms that were presented to Adamek's promoter Kathy Duva. Golden Boy Promotions [where Hopkins is a partner] was only offering Adamek a "flat fee" of $500,000. Adamek, and many people in the industry, found the offer insulting.

Well, one former champion has stepped forward, ready and willing to replace Hopkins. Former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson is open to moving up in weight to challenge Adamek for the IBF cruiserweight title. Johnson has no issue with giving Adamek the lion's share of the money. Last April, Johnson surprised everyone by nearly derailing the undefeated run of rising superstar Chad Dawson. The same Chad Dawson that thoroughly dominated Adamek in February 2007. Based on their styles, Adamek vs. Johnson would be a very physical fight.

"I think it's a fantastic fight. Glen would respect Adamek as the champion and there wouldn't be an issue with Adamek receiving the bigger portion of the money. Glen is younger than Hopkins and stylistically it's a much better fight [than Adamek-Hopkins]," Lou DiBella, Johnson's co-promoter, told BoxingScene.com.