By Rick Reeno
Goossen-Tutor has sent the word out that Glen Johnson taking on Antonio Tarver is a done deal. The two fighters will meet on December 18th, 2004, live on HBO. The bout will be held in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Both Tarver and Johnson will drop their titles in order to make the fight happen. Tarver was warned by the WBC that he would get stripped if he went ahead with the Johnson bout instead of facing mandatory challenger Paul Briggs. Johnson was getting similiar threats from the IBF about meeting his mandatory prior to meeting Tarver. The WBC will have a bout between the two top contenders, Paul Briggs and Thomas Ulrich, to crown a new champion.
The IBF is rumored to announce a box off between Rico Hoye and Montell Griffin to crown their new champion. As most recall, these two fighters recently met in a bout which ended with a very disputed decision. Hoye got the nod, but most observers felt that Griffin won the bout by a decent margin of points.
The bout between Johnson and Tarver will only be for the IBO light heavyweight title. A press conference is scheduled for early next week to officially announce the bout.
