Glengoffe Donovan Johnson (born January 2, 1969 in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a professional
boxerBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
, nicknamed
Gentleman. He stands at 180cm, around 5'11" tall. Johnson has fought in the
middleweightMiddleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1867...
,
super middleweightSuper Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds. There was interest in a division between middleweight and light heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...
, and
light heavyweightIn boxing, the light heavyweight division is the weight division between cruiserweight and super middleweight...
divisions and has held the
IBFThe International Boxing Federation, or IBF, is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...
and
Ring magazineThe Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
championships at light heavyweight.
Johnson arrived in southern Florida from Jamaica at the age of 15. He would not begin boxing as an amateur until a few years later.
Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson was a late boomer of the sport, starting at 20 years old in Miami, Florida at an emerging police boxing gym.
Glengoffe Donovan Johnson (born January 2, 1969 in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a professional
boxerBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
, nicknamed
Gentleman. He stands at 180cm, around 5'11" tall. Johnson has fought in the
middleweightMiddleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1867...
,
super middleweightSuper Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds. There was interest in a division between middleweight and light heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...
, and
light heavyweightIn boxing, the light heavyweight division is the weight division between cruiserweight and super middleweight...
divisions and has held the
IBFThe International Boxing Federation, or IBF, is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...
and
Ring magazineThe Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
championships at light heavyweight.
Amateur career
Johnson arrived in southern Florida from Jamaica at the age of 15. He would not begin boxing as an amateur until a few years later.
Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson was a late boomer of the sport, starting at 20 years old in Miami, Florida at an emerging police boxing gym. Johnson compiled an amateur record of 35-5 and was a two-time Florida State Golden Gloves Champion, once at 165 and at the other at 178-pounds.
Professional career
Johnson won his first 32 professional fights before challenging
Bernard HopkinsBernard Hopkins, known as the Executioner is an American boxer. He is best known for his ten year reign as middleweight world champion in which he successfully defended his title a record 20 times. He is the first fighter to retain all 4 major boxing governing body belts including the Ring...
for the IBF middleweight title in 1997. He suffered a technical knockout in the 11th round.
He added 6-8 more to his tally of losses, before drawing and then beating
Clinton WoodsClinton Woods , is a boxer from Sheffield, England. Growing up in tough surroundings, he was involved in a life of drugs and crime before taking up boxing as an escape. He trains on the Gleadless Valley estate and is managed by Dennis Hobson. He is a former IBF light heavyweight world champion...
with a unanimous decision to earn the IBF light heavyweight title. His next fight came against former champion
Roy Jones Jr.Roy Jones, Jr. is an American boxer and current NABO and IBC light heavyweight champion. As a professional he has captured IBF championships in the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He also won the WBA heavyweight title in his only fight in this weight class...
In an upset, he knocked Jones out in the ninth round of their September 2004 fight.
The subsequent split decision victory over
Antonio TarverAntonio Deon Tarver , nicknamed the "Magic Man", is a professional boxer from Orlando, Florida, who is the former Ring light heavyweight champion and former IBF, WBC and IBO light heavyweight champion. He stands at 6' 2" and was the first man to beat Roy Jones, Jr....
that December made him The Ring light heavyweight boxing champion. He was chosen the 2004 fighter of the year by the Boxing Writer's Association of America.
Johnson lost the light heavyweight title to Antonio Tarver in the rematch. He then challenged old foe Clinton Woods once again for the IBF title. This time Woods beat him by a split decision. He then came back and defeated former champion
Montell GriffinMontell Julian Griffin is an American boxer. He is best known for his two bouts at Light Heavyweight with Roy Jones Jr.- Professional career :...
in May 2007.
In his most recent try for a title, Johnson lost a highly controversial unanimous decision to
Chad DawsonChad Dawson is an American boxer and the current IBO light heavyweight champion. Dawson was born to Wanda and Rick Dawson, a former boxer who compiled a record. He has 4 brothers and 2 sisters. In search of work, Rick Dawson moved the family to New Haven, Connecticut in 1988...
on April 12, 2008, for the WBC light heavyweight title.
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