Glen Johnson retires: 'Road Warrior' calls an end to his fantastic career

True Warrior: That was Glen Johnson

By Peter Wells: At 5'9 he was never the biggest of Light Heavyweights, in fact he wasn't a big Super Middleweight but this Jamaican born fighter never has gone about things the way they should be. With a record of 51-17-2(35) the 'Road Warrior' Glengoffe Johnson - known as Glen - was one of the most feared fighters of his generation. Johnson could easily have been called the 'tax man' - any fighter at world class level avoiding the big fights would be sought out by Johnson.

Despite his record he never stooped down a level. He was a world class fighter and stayed there till the end of his career last Friday even at the age of 43 and having been a pro for 19 years. Two years ago Andrzej Fonfara would have been exposed by Johnson much like Allan Green but the 'Road Warrior's' tank was empty, and the Polish fighter took full advantage to take a clear 10 round decision.

Glen Johnson probably won't be talked about in the years to come, not as much as the man he knocked out in 9 rounds in 2004, Roy Jones Jr, but for those of us who were lucky enough to watch Glen Johnson fight we will remember his fights fondly. To mention all his fights at world class level would take up too many pages to think about. After being stopped for the first and only time in his career back in 1997 to legendary boxer Bernard Hopkins he has rarely fought in an easy fight. Simply put, easy fights weren't in Johnson's nature.

There was nothing to seperate Woods and Johnson in there three wars

British fight fans will remember him for his trilogy with former IBF Light Heavyweight champion Clinton Woods. In the first the fighters had to settle for a split draw when contesting the vacant IBF crown. Three months later they were back in the ring together where Johnson took a close points decision. In the third fight of the trilogy Clinton Woods took his revenge taking a split decision in a back and forth brawl. Woods described Johnson as a "great champion" a quote many more fighters said of the Miami based fighter.

In between the Woods trilogy he knocked out the sensational Roy Jones Jr in 9 rounds before beating Antonio Tarver. 'The Magic Man' Tarver avenged the defeat in an instant rematch on points.

Career defining: Johnson will always be remembered for
his knockout of Roy Jones Jr

Montell Griffin, Fred Moore and Hugo Pineda all failed the Johnson test, before he gave a tough fight to current WBC Light Heavyweight champion Chad Dawson. The decision was debated and Johnson was rightly given a rematch a year later but this time was beaten more convincingly by his young rival. At 40 years old the media started to question whether Johnson should retire but he silenced his critics once again with a 6th round knockout of Yusuf Mack. Johnson outlasted the 30 year old in a brutal fight, showing once again that age was no barrier. Later that year he was back fighting for world honours, but was once again on the wrong end of a close decision to unbeaten IBF champion Tavoris Cloud.

Surely that was it for the 'Road Warrior', wasn't it? No! Johnson dropped down to Super Middleweight to replace Mikkel Kessler in the Super Six tournament. His first opponent was Allen Green who had just lasted the 12 rounds with the young American star, Andre Ward. Green though was taken out in 8 rounds by the age defying Johnson.

Still got it: Even into his 40's Johnson was still knocking top fighters out

That though proved to be his last hooray. He was beaten by three time Super Middleweight world champion Carl Froch in the semi-finals of the competition, despite giving 'The Cobra' a very hard night. Then he was dominated by IBF Super Middleweight champion Lucian Bute over 12 rounds, before his final defeat at the hands of Fonfara.

It was a sad end to such a great career but despite those 17 defeats, very few of those were convincing ones. The question now is does he deserve a place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame? Well, if you look at what he's done throughout his career, I can only think of one answer. Yes!

Khan-Garcia: Garcia hopes to spoil Khan's Light Welter farewell party

Khan and Garcia exhange for the final time before the fight

By Peter Wells: It is never a good idea to go into a fight angry. It very rarely works well for a fighter as game plans are hard to follow when all you can think about is how much you want to punish your opponent. Angel Garcia only needed one rant of how Khan didn't deserve to be a champion and he was nothing but a name, to get under his son's opponents skin.

Amir Khan plans on taking out his frustrations on Angel's son Danny Garcia tonight in Las Vegas. To do this Amir has to fight without emotion in this fight, as emotion will drag him into a brawl which thus far in his career hasn't worked out to well. He fought Marcos Maidana toe-to-toe and came out the worse for wear, but did prove that he no longer had the glass jaw everyone had labelled him with. Then he lost his WBA and IBF titles to Lamont Peterson when engaging in a brawl despite being able to dominate when boxing on the back foot.

I don't feel much need to go into any detail about the Peterson controversy. Put simply, Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone which he later admitted to taking testosterone pellets before the first fight which were given to him by a doctor for medical reasons.

Fighting angry?: Danny Garcia's father Angel has gotten under Khan's skin

Danny Garcia will feel confident he can win if he can turn this fight into a brawl, but will surely understand if Khan uses his jab that has worked so effectively in fights with Paulie Malignaggi and Andreas Kotelnik, he can dominate the fight at will. But Khan loves a bit of a brawl and will undoutably go to war with Garcia when he gets too comfortable on the back foot. Garcia must take advantage of this flaw of Khan's when he can.

Getting involved in a brawl was Khan's downfall against Lamont Peterson

One advantage Garica does have is that if there was ever a man born to be a boxer it was him. His parents are both Puerto Rican while he was born and raised in Philadelphia. Two areas with boxing tradition running through the veins of the community.

Unfortunately for Garcia not everyone blessed with such boxing backgrounds can be great, and right now he isn't quite ready for a fighter at Khan's level. Khan should use his jab to keep Garcia at distance and then step in with quick combinations to keep his opponent off balance. Garcia may nick rounds whenever Khan takes the fight inside as he inevitably does, but i don't believe Garcia has the power to really hurt the Bolton man. So the best bet is for Khan to take a comfortable decision in his final fight at the 140lbs division.

Brook W MD Jones: Kell Brook shows a champions heart in war with Carson Jones

Celebration time: Brook can celebrate after a gruelling war

By Peter Wells: In a gruelling encounter last night, Kell Brook remained undefeated with a majority decision victory over American Carson Jones. The scores were 114-114, 115-113 and 116-113, which were all fair score cards. After dominating the first six rounds, Jones needed a knockdown or knockout to win the fight but couldn’t find one as Kell stood up well to Jones’ best shots and even traded leather with leather to pick up even more fans during their 12 round war.

To Jones’ credit he fought his heart out and against many other opponents he would have taken a knockout victory but Kell showed a supreme chin and amazing heart, as he was visibly tired from the 7^th round onwards. Blood pouring from his nose also didn’t help but he showed a true champions heart.

In the first, Kell was astoundingly quicker than his American opponent, using the jab effectively for much of the round. Jones struggled to get anything going spending most of the round walking in and throwing the odd overhand right that was a good few miles off Kell's chin. In the final 30 seconds, Kell opened up and the fans rised, while Jones finally got through with a genuine shot.

Walking the walk: Jones takes the fight to Brook

In the second Jones let his hands go more especially to the body. That turned out to be a good tactic for later in the fight. Kell still dominated with his snapping jab keeping Jones from getting inside. Again Kell opened up in the final minute getting through with some stinging right hands as he looked genuinely comfortable although it was pretty clear Jones hadn't yet stepped it up.

The third and fourth followed the same pattern as the 2nd with Kell dominating on the back foot and then whenever he went on the front foot. It was this round though that was crucial as Kell was moving much more, almost constantly bouncing on his toes, which in the later rounds almost proved very costly as he used too much needless energy early on.

The turning point of the fight came in the next round as Carson Jones started to fight like a man possessed. He walked through Kell’s shot, making the hometown favourite have to move much more and much quicker. Kell was still in control even answering the American with a volley of punches near the end of the round to bring the fans to their feet.

Round 6 was very similar, only Kell started much better, putting Jones on the back foot with more blitzing combinations. Jones came back stronger in the second half of the round, but Kell still did enough to make this a sweep for the first half of the fight.

In the next Jones started to turn the fight into a brawl, but only after  Kell won the first minute with his solid jab and a few decent right hands. The two fighters met head on for much of the round but for me the slightly cleaner work came from Kell Brook.

Brook boxed brilliantly to give himself an early lead

The 8^th was even better as both fighters slugged it out, and it was the first real sign that Kell was becoming tired. Jones was bombing forward and was snapping Brook’s head back, and was finally backing up all the talk. Kell also went to his corner with blood pouring from his nose which would become a bigger problem in terms of breathing. Still Kell did some good work but there was no doubt that round 7 was Jones’ round.

The 9^th followed a similar pattern, although Kell found more success when he fought on the outside but Jones dragged him back into a brawl as Kell didn’t have enough energy to keep out of the danger zone. It was another clear round for the American but he was still in need for a knockdown or two.

Kell came storming out to start the 10^th, throwing leather with both hands and bringing everyone in the arena to their feet. Kellwas in control for the first half of the fight, sending Jones back as he somehow found a second wind. Jones finally came to life in the final minute and landed some very good punches, but Kell answered any questions from his critics about his chin. It was another close round but Kell Brook did more in the first half of the round than Jones did in the final minute.

Round 11 was another positive round for the ‘Special One’ Kell Brook, as he kept on the outside for the majority of the round, not allowing Jones to take it into the trenches.

In the final round the bell couldn’t come soon enough for Kell as he hung on, maybe knowing he had done enough to win if he stayed on his feet. Jones never stopped throwing but couldn’t quite find the money punch.

Kell Brook is now in line to take on the winner of Devon Alexander-Randall Bailey, and unless there’s a major upset, Alexander should come out victorious.

Devon Alexander could be next for Kell Brook

Alexander doesn’t possess the power that Jones has nor does he go for power punches, preferring to use his quick combinations to control his opponents. He was clearly dominated by Timothy Bradley in their much anticipated fight last year. He was then very lucky to get away with a controversial victory over Lucas Matthysse.

So Alexander is very beatable but he has proved himself as a world class fighter and I wouldn't blame Kell for taking one last fight before taking on the St Louis fighter. New WBA champion Paulie Malignaggi has good speed and could provide a different kind of test for Kell. Kendall Holt or Mike Jones would also be good opponents before his inevitable step up.

Bragging right - Kell Brook vs Carson Jones

Carson Jones(right) has talked the talk but can he walk the walk

By Peter Wells: After many large boasts from American Carson Jones, it's nearly time for the brash Oklahoma resident to back up his words in his English rivals’ hometown. His opponent Kell Brook admits that his outspoken opponent has gotten under his skin but promises his fans in the packed out Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield a night they will remember. This is "Special K's" biggest test to date but the 26 year old knows now is the time to live up to his nickname.

Carson is a year younger but has 44 fights on his record including 8 defeats. He is unbeaten in his last 8 fights although his recent opposition has not been particularly challenging. On the other hand Kell Brook's opposition has been getting increasingly better, starting 4 fights ago when he dominated former world champion Lovemore Ndou. Rafal Jackiewicz was then dispatched in 6 rounds in the first stoppage defeat of his career. Then came his American debut which he won in 5 rounds before his highly anticipated domestic clash with Matthew Hatton. In a perfect performance the only thing missing was a knockout, but to Hatton's credit he took Brook's best shots very well. Despite his opposition it's hard to say that he has fought any opponent as determined as Carson Jones will be tomorrow night (7th July).

Jones has a huge amount of experience on his side, but this is his first outing outside of the States, and Kell will be driven on by an electric atmosphere.

Making a statement: Brook dominates Matthew Hatton

Kell would be wise not to let emotion take over him in this fight, as it is an inevitability that Jones will try as much as he can to get inside Kell's head right before the fight. Brook has great boxing ability and won’t want to get into a scrap with the tough American whom with 24 knockouts from 34 wins, will be looking to turn this into a scrap.

Brook may have to survive some scrappy moments but can do enough work with his jab and straight right - that could be a key shot in this fight - to win round after round. The stoppage may be there for Kell to take late in the fight as the American runs out of ideas, but I still expect Brook to be clever enough to not take any unnecessary risks late in the fight and cruise to an impressive one-sided points victory.

A world title challenge is just beyond the door that is Carson Jones, so the pressure is on, but to be a champion Kell must show he can thrive under that pressure.