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Johnson stops Griffin in IBF title eliminator
Courtney Wallace, Observer writer
Friday, May 18, 2007
Glen Johnson connects with a right in his TKO win over Montell Griffin at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida in their IBF light heavyweight elimination bout on Wednesday night. (Photo: AP)
Glen "The Road Warrior" Johnson has without doubt been the ultimate ambassador for Jamaica as far as the boxing world has been concerned over the past couple of years, picking up the mantle where Mike McCallum, Simon Brown and Uriah Grant left off and racking up win after win over some of the toughest opponents in the business.
In his own unrelenting style, the son of Clarendon produced a hard-fought 11th-round TKO win over former world champion Montell Griffin in their IBF light heavyweight title eliminator at the Seminole Hard Rock hotel in Florida.
"I feel great... it was a great fight. Montell made himself difficult to hit by pushing his head into my chest. I had to be patient and keep using my jab to set it up and that's why it took me so long, but I knew I had to stop him within rounds because I didn't want a guy like Montell going the distance with me because I'm supposed to be fighting bigger and better fighters," Johnson said after the fight.
Johnson, who now improves to 45-11-2 (30 ko's), said Griffin (48-7 with 30 KOs) and the first man to beat Roy Jones Jr (1997 for the WBC title) did catch him a few times, but nothing to really hurt.
"... He made himself difficult to hit; that's about it. You see him trying to throw punches but very few landed. He caught me with a good left hook and an uppercut, but in different rounds. I threw a slow right hand and he caught me with the left. I give him credit for those punches, but that was it for him," he added.
Johnson, himself a former world champ, having won the IBF strap in 2004 when he was named fighter of the year, swarmed Griffin from the first bell and the pressure finally got to the latter in the 11th round when referee Jorge Alonso stopped the fight at the request of Griffin's corner. The time was 2:38.
This win now puts Johnson in line for a fourth fight with current IBF world champ Clinton Woods, against whom he is 1-1-1. In November 2003 Johnson drew with Woods in England for the then vacant title.
The result drew much protest and a rematch was arranged the following year, when Johnson duly lifted the title. He defended it once with a ninth-round stoppage of the once-indomitable Jones Jr in September 2003, only to vacate the belt in December for a money shot at Antonio Tarver and the lesser IBO belt.
Johnson was the first of three Jamaican boxers in action this week, with light heavyweight Richard "Destroyer" Hall and cruiserweight Lloyd "Jabba" Bryan to climb into the ring tomorrow.
Hall 27-6 with (25 knock outs) will take on the Brooklyn native Shaun George 13-2 and 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Courtney Wallace, Observer writer
Friday, May 18, 2007
Glen Johnson connects with a right in his TKO win over Montell Griffin at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida in their IBF light heavyweight elimination bout on Wednesday night. (Photo: AP)Glen "The Road Warrior" Johnson has without doubt been the ultimate ambassador for Jamaica as far as the boxing world has been concerned over the past couple of years, picking up the mantle where Mike McCallum, Simon Brown and Uriah Grant left off and racking up win after win over some of the toughest opponents in the business.
In his own unrelenting style, the son of Clarendon produced a hard-fought 11th-round TKO win over former world champion Montell Griffin in their IBF light heavyweight title eliminator at the Seminole Hard Rock hotel in Florida.
"I feel great... it was a great fight. Montell made himself difficult to hit by pushing his head into my chest. I had to be patient and keep using my jab to set it up and that's why it took me so long, but I knew I had to stop him within rounds because I didn't want a guy like Montell going the distance with me because I'm supposed to be fighting bigger and better fighters," Johnson said after the fight.
Johnson, who now improves to 45-11-2 (30 ko's), said Griffin (48-7 with 30 KOs) and the first man to beat Roy Jones Jr (1997 for the WBC title) did catch him a few times, but nothing to really hurt.
"... He made himself difficult to hit; that's about it. You see him trying to throw punches but very few landed. He caught me with a good left hook and an uppercut, but in different rounds. I threw a slow right hand and he caught me with the left. I give him credit for those punches, but that was it for him," he added.
Johnson, himself a former world champ, having won the IBF strap in 2004 when he was named fighter of the year, swarmed Griffin from the first bell and the pressure finally got to the latter in the 11th round when referee Jorge Alonso stopped the fight at the request of Griffin's corner. The time was 2:38.
This win now puts Johnson in line for a fourth fight with current IBF world champ Clinton Woods, against whom he is 1-1-1. In November 2003 Johnson drew with Woods in England for the then vacant title.
The result drew much protest and a rematch was arranged the following year, when Johnson duly lifted the title. He defended it once with a ninth-round stoppage of the once-indomitable Jones Jr in September 2003, only to vacate the belt in December for a money shot at Antonio Tarver and the lesser IBO belt.
Johnson was the first of three Jamaican boxers in action this week, with light heavyweight Richard "Destroyer" Hall and cruiserweight Lloyd "Jabba" Bryan to climb into the ring tomorrow.
Hall 27-6 with (25 knock outs) will take on the Brooklyn native Shaun George 13-2 and 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.