By Cliff Rold

Former Ring Magazine and IBF Light Heavyweight titlist Glen Johnson (49-12-2, 33 KO), the Jamaican road warrior fighting out of Miami, Florida,  is 40 years old and has seen it all in his career.  Big wins, unjust decision losses, and even the occasional unfair draw.  He’s rarely had the chance to avenge the slights but got one such opportunity Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.  In 2003, a draw versus a then-undefeated Daniel Judah (23-4-3, 10 KO) was met with catcalls, Johnson perceived the winner.  Johnson left no margin for error this time, drubbing Judah for an easy unanimous decision win.

Both men weighed in near the Light Heavyweight limit, Johnson at 175 ¼ and Judah right on the limit at 175.

Circling to his left, Judah, 31, started out with quick southpaw right jabs and straight lefts to the body.  Johnson responded as he always does, walking forward with hands held high and working his left jab.  His own long right lead to the stomach of Judah piled up points as did a short left inside in the final minute.  Inside the final twenty seconds, a perfect right hand whipped Judah’s head back and rattled him into the ropes, the younger man sinking towards the floor.  He rose and nodded his okay as referee Tommy Kimmons counted out the mandatory eight.  Johnson attempted to follow up but found too little time on the clock and Judah made it to the corner.

The right struck again for Johnson to start the second and he whipped in body shots as Judah covered.  Another right to the face pushed Judah to the ropes but he remained standing.  Judah fired his own straight left to keep in the game, landing at mid-ring and adding a lead right hook inside the halfway point.  Johnson’s right struck twice at the minute mark and each man took turns looking for opening down the stretch, Johnson finding more success.

The wearing pressure of Johnson was maintained in the third, Judah unable to keep breathing room.  Echoing left hooks to the body brought a head shake from Judah and a right uppercut inside the final minute shook his head for him.  Judah accepted the need to fire close and landed a nice right to the body and left upstairs late in the round but Johnson’s accuracy and output kept him well in control of the bout.  The fourth was much the same as the previous rounds, Johnson just a steady drum of activity, Judah finding his best success in the closing seconds with a straight right which knocked Johnson off balance.

Round five was more Johnson as Judah struggled to land anything of note while being overwhelmed by the former champion.  In the sixth, Judah did a better job keeping space between him and Johnson but still took the worst of it as Johnson landed body shots from distance and even a long lead uppercut.  Pulling his guard high and tight, earmuff style, Judah blocked a number of hooks upstairs, forsaking his ribs until the closing seconds saw an exchange in favor of Johnson as a left and right hook landed to the head.

Johnson clubbed Judah with a right to start the seventh and for three more minutes the bout unfolded in a mirror fashion to the six preceding frames.  Johnson wasn’t landing everything, but he threw so much that it didn’t matter.  A left to the body folded Judah forward in the final minute and a right upstairs drove sweat from the New Yorker’s brow.  The final ten seconds, fought near the ropes, saw Judah land two jarring right hooks in between eating left hooks from Johnson.

Sensing some give in Judah after a hook to the body early in the eighth, Johnson pounced with a frenzy of blows but Judah wasn’t going anywhere and rode out the storm with deft blocking.  He blocked little as the round wound down, Johnson belting him at will with hooks to the body and head.  Johnson’s right hand continued to rattle Judah in the ninth as the fight settled into an entertaining predictability with three minutes to go.

A hint of drama appeared in the first minute of the final round when a clash of heads broke the action.  Judah doubled over to clear his head as Johnson waved his arms and played to the crowd.  Perhaps sensing an ending, Johnson attacked with fury but Judah again weathered and was still firing as the bout came to a close. 

Johnson’s victory was clear and unanimous at 99-89 and 99-90 twice.  Whether the victory will get him another deserved title shot or act as a deterrent for name fighters looking for easier nights remains to be seen. 

Meat and potatoes fight fans may have come to see Johnson-Judah but it’s likely they left talking about its chief support bout.  Welterweight prospects Antwone Smith (15-1, 8 KO), 22, 147 ½, and Norberto Gonzalez (16-1, 12 KO), 27, 147 ¾, traded wicked shots for all of their scheduled eight rounds.  Smith, of Miami, Florida, left with the unanimous decision but both warriors fought like winners on Friday night.

Smith, grunting, started with fast jabs while Mexico’s Gonzalez stalked with his own left stick before coming forward with a combination of left and right hooks.  An exchange of hooks at center ring saw each man reset their feet and Gonzalez returned to fire with a hard if glancing one-two combination.  Two hooks to the body were finished with a left hook upstairs for Gonzalez, followed by a right hook to the ribs.  Another Gonzalez left hook clipped the temple of Smith in the waning seconds of the first round.

Gonzalez remained undeterred by the quick hands of Smith in the opening of the second round, circling to his left and stopping to land timed hooks downstairs and single shots to the head.  Smith played the stalker and walked into a bomb near the final minute.  Crossing his arms in defense a la Archie Moore, Gonzalez caught Smith in transition with a hard left followed by a stiffer right, wobbling Smith’s knees.  Sensing blood, Gonzalez let loose with his best power stuff, driving Smith towards the corner with a right and left.  Swinging with reckless abandon, Gonzalez steered clear of a winging right hook but when Smith repeated the effort Gonzalez found himself seated on the floor.  Gonzalez got up, rode out referee Samuel Burgos‘s eight count and soon was on the attack again, a right hand and left hook again driving Smith back.  Smith just missed with a right off the ropes and as the seconds ticked by found himself again on the strands.  A right and left slapped at the head of Gonzalez and halted his final rush of a thrilling second frame.

Each man wore expressions of intensity and violent respect as the third gout underway.  Smith’s jab ricocheted off the face of Gonzalez but he again absorbed the Mexican’s left hook.  A right and left for Gonzalez landed, and then another right before Smith’s right hand made its most important impact of the night.  A stream of crimson began to drip from the left eye of Gonzalez and was smeared by the Smith right hand.  Smith backed away at angles, looking for openings to counter Gonzalez who seemed unaffected by the sight of his own blood.  Smith nailed a right hand as the bell signaled for the round’s close. 

A minute into the fourth, a Smith jab rocked Gonzalez back on his heels as Smith became tougher to find with clean power shots, his chin tucked behind a high left shoulder.  With his jab dominating the action, Smith landed a rifling right uppercut to the heart of Gonzalez but the organ showed solvency as Gonzalez let both hands go in the closing seconds as Smith backed to the ropes.

Gonzalez carved into Smith with a right and left thirty seconds into the fifth and the undefeated fighter continued to work his way forward with heavy hands, outworking Smith for much of the first two minutes.  Inside the final minute, Smith turned up what had been mostly absent offense, lacing in a left and right which jerked Gonzalez’s head from side to side. 

The accurate bursts of Smith paid heavy dividends near the minute mark of the following sixth round.  A left hook and right hand left Gonzalez on unsteady footing but the Mexican did not fall, pounding his heart with both fists in a show of bravado.  It was more than bravado as he opened Smith up with a brushing jab and nailed him with a right hand and then another in a flurry that forced Smith to the ropes.  Chasing Smith from one side of the ring to another, Gonzalez could not find the shot which would floor his foe and down the stretch each man fired landing blows in a sustained exchange which brought fans to their feet.

Gonzalez struck first in round seven in what had become a trying war for both young fighters, a right hand echoing off the face of Smith.  The bleeding of his left eye contained, Gonzalez was dealing with a swelling right eye as well but remained vigilantly committed to walking Smith down and outworking him.  With the scoring likely close, Smith took most of the round off before scoring with a couple of flashy right hands late.

A critical eighth and final round summoned both men to mid-ring for the traditional tapping of gloves.  Smith exploded right away after that with a short straight right and left hook, tipping Gonzalez off balance.  Seconds later, Gonzalez responded with a left and right, Smith with a right, left and right.  Another right came in counter from Smith and there were two minutes to go.  A slashing right at the midway point for Smith were joined by another flurry of left, right and left hand near the one minute mark but neither man seemed in danger of missing the final bell.  Smith’s right continued to catch Gonzalez until a final thirty seconds which saw each land closing power efforts in an excellent battle.

In the end, it was the more accurate and measured work of Smith that carried the day with unanimous scores of 78-74 erasing the “0” from the mark of Gonzalez.

23-year old 2008 Olympic alternate Danny O’Connor (4-0, 1 KO) of Framingham, Massachusetts stayed undefeated in the televised Jr. Welterweight opener, an entertaining four round race with 24-year old Jamar Saunders (2-2, 1 KO) of Atlanta, Georgia.

The brisk first round saw both young fighters throwing and landing a variety of blows.  The southpaw O’Connor, 138 ¼, landed cleaner blows, and blocked well, but Saunders, 137 ¼, made his mark with a constant left jab and effective right to the body.  The pace remained hot in the second.  A double lead right hook blasted through for O’Connor and Saunders responded with one of his own.  It would be a lone highlight in the frame.  Having found his range, O’Connor landed clean lefts and rights at will for much of the last two minutes, rocking Saunders more than once.

Business slowed down in the third but both men continued to fire.  Saunders landed a clean right hand past the halfway point and stayed with hooks to the body.  O’Connor pinned Saunders down outside in the late going with right jabs while stinging with counter right hooks as Saunders came in.  Saunders added some more quality right hands in the fourth, willing himself to his best round of the night.  Coupled with a close first, it could well have seen the bout end even. 

It wasn’t to be, though he came close on one card at 38-38, overruled by twin scores of 40-36 for O’Connor.  Regardless of who won, it was a rare look at two fighters both worth seeing again as they develop.  The referee was Tommy Kimmons.

The card was televised as part of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, promoted by Seminole Warriors Boxing. 

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com