By Jim Dower: Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson (48-12-2, 33 KOs) will return to the ring on February 27th against Daniel Judah (23-3-3, 10 KOs) in a 10-round non-title bout at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida. Johnson, 39, ranked #2 in the WBC, #4 in the WBA/WBO and #6 in the IBF, is in a stay busy fight against Judah, 31, the older brother of former lightweight and welterweight champion Zab Judah.
Johnson is looking to get another title shot in the near future, possibly against WBC light heavyweight champion Adrian Diaconu. Johnson had hopes of getting a rematch against Chad Dawson, who narrowly beat Johnson by a 12-round unanimous decision in April.
However, Dawson is going to be fighting Antonio Tarver once again, having recently defeated him by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision in October. However, Tarver, 40, the IBF light heavyweight title holder at the time, had a rematch clause set in the contract with Dawson, and will now be fighting him once again, this time in March. This effectively leaves Johnson without another shot at Dawson, whom he would very much like to fight again.
Johnson, obviously, can’t afford to wait on Dawson to give him another shot, and will likely be looking in another direction should he defeat Judah in February. Aside from Diaconu, Johnson is within striking distance against WBA light heavyweight champion Hugo Garay and WBO title holder Zsolt Erdei.
Both are very tough, however, and would be difficult fights for him. Johnson would appear to have a much better chance against Garay, from Argentina, who likes to punch it out against his opponents, overwhelming them with hard combinations. Johnson does well against these fighters.
Strangely enough, Johnson probably stands the best chance of winning another title against Dawson, arguably the best fighter in the light heavyweight division. Dawson had huge problems with Johnson’s withering pressure and it seemed to take a lot out of Dawson as the fight wore on into the late rounds.
In the earlier portion of the fight, it looked as if it would be a route as Dawson landed almost at will on Johnson, showering him with punches and giving an impressive display of speed and power punching. However, Johnson kept coming forward, throwing hard punches and forcing Dawson to fight back continuously and expend a lot of energy.
Eventually, Dawson, having to defend constantly against Johnson, began to wear out and take heavy punishment in the last four rounds of the bout. However, Johnson gave away to many of the earlier rounds and needed to either score some knockdowns or an outright stoppage to defeat Dawson.
As for Johnson’s opponent on February 27th, Judah stands little chance of beating him. The two previously fought five years ago in April 2003, with the fight ending up a 10-round draw. But since that time, Judah has little luck, winning six fights and losing three with one ending up a draw.
Judah, in the past three years, has lost three and won three. He probably won’t be stopped by Johnson, because Judah has an excellent chin, but I see Johnson beating him by a sound decision, one that won’t likely be very close in the end.
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