By Cliff Rold

Once the best Lightweight in the world, 35-year old Stevie Johnston (42-6-1, 18 KO) of Denver, Colorado looked a shell of his former self on Wednesday night at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, suffering his third knockout loss in six starts.  The latest man to notch Johnston onto his belt, 25-year old Edner Cherry (24-5-2, 12 KO) of Wachula, Florida provided the most devastating proof in those three losses that Johnston’s health would be better secured outside the ring in the future.  Cherry’s tenth round knockout win would see Johnston on the mat for minutes after the referee’s count had ended.

Johnston had an effective first round, working his southpaw right jab and landing some sneaky straight lefts, but even those three minutes may not have gone to him on the scorecards as Cherry established immediately that his lead right hand would find home at will.  It did just that.

After edging Johnston in the second through activity and accuracy, Cherry would score the first of three knockdowns in the third.  A right hand stunned Johnston just shy of a minute into the frame and he pitched forward, the sink of his body allowing him to avoid the left-right that followed from Cherry.  The veteran rose quickly and bravely.  Showing respect, Cherry maintained a steady form, electing not to jump on Johnston in pursuit of an early exit.   

Cherry elected to remain consistent through the fourth, jabbing and throwing the right in spots without allowing openings.  In the fifth, another right shuttled Johnston towards the ropes and Cherry pursued, raking in combination.  Cherry methodically piled it on.  A hard right in the sixth at mid-ring that stood Johnston straight up, almost teetering him backwards; slashing counters in the seventh and eighth as Johnston came forward, a sitting duck. 

It got worse in the ninth.  With less than a minute to go, Cherry worked Johnston towards the ropes before landing a head snapping right.  Seconds later, a left hook landed, followed by two sharp right uppercuts, then a long right-left-right combination and finally two overhand rights that sent Johnston toppling head over heels.  Again Johnston rose quickly, but more quickly backpedaled for survival.  The bell sounded, three minutes remaining until the scheduled end.

Those three minutes would fall just out of reach.  With little more than thirty seconds left in the bout, Johnston was touched with a hard left jab before a right caught him blind on the chin.  He was out before he hit the mat, his body draped ironically, even fittingly, over an advertisement reading “Just for Men” at mid-ring.  The official time of the stoppage was 2:34 of the tenth. 

The bout marked Cherry’s third straight win, second by stoppage, since a 2007 decision loss to current IBF Jr. Welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi.  Johnston, twice the WBC Lightweight titlist from 1997-2000, was speaking and receptive to ring doctors before being helped to his stool after brief examination to the respectful applause of the crowd.  It appeared that the applause might also be for the end of a fine career.

The comeback of St. Louis, Missouri’s 38-year old former WBA Featherweight titlist Freddie Norwood (42-3-1, 23 KO) looks to be at an end well.  For the second fight in a row, Norwod was unable to defeat 28-year old journeyman Johnnie Edwards (14-2-1, 8 KO) of Florence, South Carolina.  Any doubts left by the disqualification result of their first bout in September 2007 were erased with a devastating Edwards left hook in round seven.  Norwood, who holds a rare official victory over Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez, was making his sixth start since a ring layoff that lasted from 2000-2006.

The fight was far from out of reach in the initial going.  Norwood came out crisp and sharp early, snapping his right jab and tossing the left over the top.  Firing in combination, Norwood even stunned the younger man in the first.

The next two rounds would not provide as much success.  Using lateral movement that forced Norwood to give chase, Edwards moved in and out to pile up points in the second.  In the third he lowered the first boom.  A mid-ring exchange left Norwood open and Edwards let loose with a left hand that sent Norwood shuttling towards his back.  Still with his legs, Norwood easily beat the count and rode out the rest of the round, firing back to keep Edwards honest.

Perhaps lulled by the sight of a dropped Norwood the round before, Edwards would take the worst of it in the fourth.  Using a shadow of the footwork that once made him one of the worlds best, Norwood maneuvered Edwards towards the ropes, letting loose with his best barrage of the fight punctuated by some punishing lefts upstairs.  It would be his final highlight of the night, perhaps any night.

In the fifth and sixth, Edwards landed the harder blows and opened a cut over the eye of Norwood.  In the final seconds of the seventh round, Edwards came forward with a left hook to the body that just missing, clipping Norwood’s elbow, before coming back over the top as he leaved backwards.  His fully body pulling the shot, Edwards left hook connected with the temple of Norwood who flopped quivering forward, flat on his face until the count hit six.  Norwood stirred, attempting to will himself to his feet, but to no avail.  He stood again a solid second past ten, the bout stopped at 2:51 of the round.

Norwood and Johnston join fellow southpaw Chris Byrd in a trifecta of middle-aged former titlists brutally knocked out on national television in the last five days. 

Other Televised Results

Cruiserweights: Arthur Williams (44-15-1, 30 KOs) W UD6 Clarence Moore (5-4-1, 5 KOs)

The card was televised live on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights.

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