By David P. Greisman
In June, sixteen years after turning professional, Leavander Johnson entered a ring in Italy to face Stefano Zoff for the vacant IBF lightweight title. This was not a unique occurrence for the longtime pro. Having contended at the 135-lb. weight class for virtually his whole career, Johnson had thrice challenged for a lightweight belt, falling short each time, stoppage losses to Miguel Angel Gonzalez in 1994, to Orzubek Nazarov in 1997, and to Javier Jauregui in 2003.
Johnson may have been years removed from his prime, but the experience and grit picked up from years in the sweet science contributed to counteract the wear and tear. In Zoff’s backyard, in his fourth attempt at glory, Johnson knocked out his opponent and became a champion.
And now, three months after the highest of highs, Leavander Johnson has suffered a subdural hematoma, bleeding on the brain that has left him unconscious, in a medically induced coma at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. Thirty minutes and thirty-eight seconds worth of fighting with Jesus Chavez has left Johnson without the gold that he had waited so long to possess.
Yet in a reminder that we who follow this blood sport have too often been forced to confront, it is the fight that Johnson now faces that is truly important, the battle to ensure that he does not end up without his life.
It is a waiting game that unnerves.
As reported by boxing scribe Michael Katz, Johnson will likely remain in his coma until midweek, when the medical practitioners who have worked so diligently to save his life will observe just how successful their efforts have been.
It’s luck, or a miracle, or fate, or however and whatever you believe in, that Johnson has made it this far, recovered as much as he has.
Forty minutes after referee Tony Weeks had stepped in to prevent Johnson from taking further punishment, Leavander was in surgery, and the doctor who operated on him did not think that his pugilist patient would make it.
For promoter Lou DiBella, who has been known to be emotionally invested in his fighters, for Johnson’s wife and four children, for all of us who just cannot bear to see such a calamity occur again, these will be trying times.
And, as always, it may have been preventable.
Johnson’s corner could have stopped the fight a few rounds prior, when the beating that Chavez was issuing was becoming more violent and Johnson’s resistance more lax. Forget blaming the referee, as he called a halt at just the time when his eyes and mind knew it was proper. Weeks was given heck, wrongly, for waving off Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo too soon, and it would be an error to propose that this time he waited too long to act.
Ringside physician Margaret Goodman was doing her job, too, checking on Johnson between rounds to test his responsiveness and ability to continue.
But it was his corner that needed to realize that even if Johnson could continue, he was less and less able to compete. If it is Johnson’s job to go out there and wage war, it is his seconds’ jobs to keep him in one piece.
Despite cases like Johnson’s, or those of Martin Sanchez and Ruben Contreras, there are still fighters that tempt fate, and employees, friends and family members that enable them.
Johnson was a champion, an able body that was just outclassed on this one September night. Joe Mesi, Evander Holyfield, Ronald Hearns, Julio Cesar Chavez (who lost Saturday), Riddick Bowe, Johnny Tapia (who also lost this weekend) and countless others tempt fate, risk their lives by deciding to box despite deteriorated capabilities or prior symptoms of dangerous injuries.
To accentuate the gravity of the situation, one needs only to look at the beginning of the prior paragraph and hope that the grammar does not signify catastrophe. Johnson was a champion. Let us just hope and pray that he continues to be with us.
The 10 Count
1. It’s hard to focus as intently on sport and game when a situation like Johnson’s arises, but two other fights were televised after Leavander’s loss to Jesus Chavez. In the first, Shane Mosley took a unanimous ten-round decision over Jose Luis Cruz, and in the main event, Marco Antonio Barrera easily outpointed Robbie Peden. My thoughts on each…
2. It may have been partially due to the skill level of his opponent, but Shane Mosley still looks to be a far cry from the superb form he had once exhibited at lightweight and in his previous stint at welterweight.
Against Jose Luis Cruz, Mosley found himself, at times, playing tug-of-war to get his arms free, and when his hands weren’t being held, they weren’t being let go enough.
Cruz was a slow, lumbering fighter that belied his undefeated record, and the Mosley of old would have potshotted Cruz with combinations instead of boxing, calculating and sending forth essentially one punch at a time. The Mosley of old wouldn’t have let Cruz go the distance, and the “Sugar Shane” of today still seems to have quite a ways to go if he wants to face welterweight champs Zab Judah or Antonio Margarito.
3. Robbie Peden used to be a sparring partner for Marco Antonio Barrera, and it showed, as over the majority of twelve rounds he sat back at a distance, allowing Barrera to jab and box his way to a unification of two of the junior lightweight title belts. It was a cautious, slow main event full of jabbing that reminded this pundit of last month’s Hasim Rahman-Monte Barrett bore-fest, but at least Barrera displayed better technique.
“The Babyfaced Assassin” now has a wealth of choices, including stepping up to 135 to face Jesus Chavez or waiting around for the winner of Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao II. What is least likely but most proper, however, would be for Barrera to finally give a shot to his fellow Mexican, much-avoided featherweight Juan Manuel Marquez.
4. What is Vivian Harris thinking by leaving Main Events and becoming a promotional free agent? He was lucky to still have a promoter after the way he lost to Carlos Maussa in June, when he overtrained, came in massively underweight and attempted to brawl when he should have boxed. Unless some fool is willing to take a chance, the former junior welterweight beltholder, who was already avoided when he owned a title, should have an extremely difficult time making television, and thus making good paydays.
5. Speaking of 140-lb. fighters going nowhere, DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley has a habit of going from being a junior welterweight gatekeeper to existing as the troll that lives under a bridge.
In July 2003 and May 2004, Corley lost to Zab Judah and Floyd Mayweather Jr., only to end last year by outpointing an ancient Darryl Tyson. This year, Corley was on the short end of the stick in a controversial stoppage to Miguel Cotto, and decided to follow it up first with an eight-round decision over 9-45-1 Kevin Carter, and then this past Saturday with a knockout of a Johnny Walker that had lost fourteen in a row.
6. Boxers Behaving Badly, the continuing, various sagas: Former middleweight titlist William Joppy has been arrested for allegedly assaulting fellow boxer and Washington D.C. area resident Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan. According to reports, Joppy approached Buchanan’s car at a traffic intersection, attempted to choke him, pursued his vehicle and struck it multiple times. From the sound of it, it was the best output of offense that Joppy has had in years.
7. No, I won’t even pretend to know what “Sugar Poo” is.
8. So a thief stole Oscar De La Hoya’s wallet, so what? He can’t have lost anywhere near as much money as he would have had the proper decision been rendered against him when he and the judges robbed Felix Sturm last year.
9. Now that promoter Frank Warren has presented evidence that consensus 140-lb. champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton is, and should remain under contract with him, what will happen to the Hatton-Carlos Maussa unification bout set for this November? Will the documents hold up under scrutiny, or will there be a protracted legal battle that prevents Hatton from entering the ring? This continues to be a situation worth watching, with implications on possible future bouts with names like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto and Diego Corrales.
10. In a classy, caring move, Jesus Chavez, as well as Golden Boy Promotions’ heads Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins, visited Leavander Johnson at the hospital. Hopefully by next week’s column, this spot in The 10 Count will be filled with better, more optimistic news on Johnson’s condition.
