Glen Johnson - File
After more than two decades in the ring, Glen Johnson still hasn't figured out "the math" boxing has forcibly tried to teach him.
Being on the harsh end of several high-profile, controversial decisions - which cost him world titles, millions in prize money and long overdue acclaim - has convinced the Jamaican the numbers don't always add up.
Take Johnson's world light heavyweight title fight with 'Bad' Chad Dawson on April 12, 2008. When the gruelling bout ended, Johnson was sure he had taken the American's World Boxing Council (WBC) crown. He had been more aggressive, landed more telling punches and won most of the 12 rounds, Johnson claimed. Dawson, he added, was left with morescars too.
Still pretty
"I'm still, still pretty," the Jamaican declared from his post-fight dressing room. "He's all chopped up, bruised up and cut up, busted up."
Hundreds in the near-capacity crowd at Tampa, Florida's St Pete Times Forum jeered Dawson's passive approach during the fight and rose in adulation to Johnson at the end. But at least three men didn't agree. Judges Nicholas Hidalgo, Jack Woodburn and Peter Trematerra all scored it 116 to 112 for Dawson, awarding him a unanimous decision.
That drew another show of disgust from the crowd, which erupted in a chorus of boos lasting several minutes. While Johnson claimed "a one-eyed man or a half-eye man" could see he won, six eyes saw otherwise.
The two clash again on November 7 for the undefeated Dawson's International Boxing Organisation (IBO) title. Johnson, a former world champion, has his own equation in place: Make sure the result is solely dependent on what he does in the ring, not the mood of judges outside.
"This time we're trying our best to make sure Dawson doesn't finish on his feet, that the fight doesn't reach the final bell," said the 40-year-old Clarendon-born challenger on Sunday while relaxing in Florida, where he has lived since migrating to the United States as a teenager.
Immediately after their first fight, the southpaw dismissed Johnson's claim that the judges got the result wrong, pointing to the crowd's overwhelming reaction as a favour Johnson's adopted home state. The support from his corner has not budged either.
"I don't know what they (the dissenting crowd) were looking at," Dawson's promoter Gary Shaw, who will likely stage the rematch in his fighter's home state of Connecticut, recalled on Monday. "I've watched the fight 10 times."
Another agenda
After initially brushing away a quick rematch with Johnson, claiming he had another "agenda", the 27-year-old Dawson this year gave up his International Boxing Federation (IBF) title for a more lucrative opportunity to take on the 'Road Warrior' once more. He had earlier vacated his WBC title and also defeated Antonio Tarver twice, following the Johnson bout, to take his fellow American's IBO and IBF belts. Dawson's record now stands at 28 wins (17 knockouts) with one no contest in 29 fights.
According to Shaw, the final word on the Connecticut venue, most likely in the city of Hartford, could come this week. And despite questions about the date of the rematch, with speculation that it could be moved up to September, the promoter said all is in place for Johnson and Dawson to end the argument of who's the better 175-pound boxer during the HBO-televised bout in November.
"The fight is settled, contract signed," Shaw said.
No qualms
Johnson, who took a few days off on doctor's orders to recover from a "no-big-deal" back injury he suffered during training last week, said he would not have rejected an earlier date for the Dawson rematch. That would have allowed him to fight again later in the year or early 2010. In his last bout in late February, he outclassed American Daniel Judah to win a unanimous 10-round decision and move his record to 49 wins (33 knockouts), 12 losses and two draws. However, he has no qualms about November 7.
"I will be ready," Johnson said.
As for the planned Connecticut venue, in Dawson's back yard, he has no problems with that either.
"Either way they are trying to put (the fight) in his region," Johnson said, "but it doesn't matter to me."
A large Jamaican community resides in that northeast US area. Yet, Johnson believes that being from Jamaica, a fact he has always expressed pride in, has hurt his career at times. Boxing, he claims, would prefer world champions from the US, Europe and Asia. Shaw is eyeing a crowd of at least 10,000 for the bout. Yet, at this stage, those numbers, and boxing's other weird calculations, don't worry Johnson anymore.
"I really don't care because I feel anywhere I fight in this country I'm seen as a foreigner," he said.