{"id":45095,"date":"2012-07-06T18:36:42","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T23:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=19702"},"modified":"2012-07-06T18:36:42","modified_gmt":"2012-07-06T23:36:42","slug":"glen-johnsons-last-stand-boxings-road-warrior-heading-to-espns-friday-night-fights-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=45095","title":{"rendered":"Glen Johnson's Last Stand: Boxing's Road Warrior Heading to ESPN's Friday Night Fights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson (51-16-2, 35 KOs) is working hard with trainer Orlando Cuellar, co-Trainer Hamlet McKenzie and strength and conditioning coach Steve Arintok at Thump Boxing Gym in Miami.<\/p>\n

The still-dangerous former world champion is putting the finishing touches on preparations to face Chicago’s “The Polish Prince” Andrzej Fonfara (21-2, 12 KOs) in the 10-round main event of 8 Count Productions and Warriors Boxing’s “CROSSROADS”, boxing event at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago and live on ESPN Friday Night Fights next Friday, July 13.<\/p>\n

In the co-main event that night, former world champion Jose Luis “EL Terrible” Castillo (63-11-1, 54 KOs) will face Chicago fan favorite Ivan “EL Marro” Popoca (15-1-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight battle.<\/p>\n

“Training went well,” said Johnson. “I feel good. I’m going to come out and look good next Friday. I feel sharp right now. I’m feeling real relaxed and energetic. I’m excited about going out there and showing the things I can do and re-establishing myself.”<\/p>\n

Johnson says he’s happy about the choice of opponent for his return, and true to his always-considerate nature, not just because he thinks he can win.<\/p>\n

“I know he’s a big aggressive kid, who uses his jab and comes forward with the right hand and the hook. He’s just an aggressive guy, basically. I love aggressive guys. They create good fights for the people.”<\/p>\n

So why does a 43-year-old ex-champion continue to trade leather with men who could be his son? Because he can.<\/p>\n

“I like the challenge. I’m excited about going out there and doing the things I do. I’m still able to do it at a high level. People are still excited about seeing me perform, so that’s another plus. Mostly, I keep doing it because I’m still enjoying it.”<\/p>\n

Aware of father time, however, Johnson says at this point in his career, a loss to a non-champion like Fonfara would probably spell the end.<\/p>\n

“Oh yeah. If I lose to a guy like this, then that would tell me exactly the opposite of all I just said – that I’m sharp and ready to go and can still do it on a high level. If I lose I probably won’t want to do it anymore.”<\/p>\n

Putting the pressure of keeping his boxing career alive aside, Johnson says he’ll probably deliver in a big way Friday.<\/p>\n

“The way I’m feeling right now, I think I will stop this guy, but it’s always easier said from the outside looking in. I just want to get in there and see exactly what’s happening and then I’ll put my shots in the right spots. I really think I’ll stop him.”<\/p>\n

Johnson has fought in Chicago a couple times already, but claims this is already his favorite fight in the area.<\/p>\n

“This is my first time where I can actually enjoy the weather. Every time I went there, it was freezing ad I hated it. I’m not a cold-weather guy. I’m going there now when it’s fairly warm and the kind of weather I can deal with. I will enjoy this fight more than any other one I’ve had here.”<\/p>\n

A die-hard basketball fan, Johnson says he’s already having a great summer because of his favorite team’s victory.<\/p>\n

“Miami Heat. Champions. Glen Johnson is extremely excited about that. The only thing that would be better is if I won another world championship!”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson (51-16-2, 35 KOs) is working hard with trainer Orlando Cuellar, co-Trainer Hamlet McKenzie and strength and conditioning coach Steve Arintok at Thump Boxing Gym in Miami. The still-dangerous former world champion is putting the finishing touches on preparations to face Chicago’s “The Polish Prince” Andrzej Fonfara (21-2, 12 KOs) in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1921,105,298,1416],"class_list":["post-45095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-antonio-tarver","tag-boxing","tag-glen-johnson","tag-roy-jones-jr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45095\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}