Tonight, February 5th 2010, ESPN Friday Night Fights will be aired from the campus of Nova Southeastern University.
"The Road Warrior" Glen Johnson will face Yusaf Mack in a light-heavyweight bout. Johnson and Mack were scheduled to fight on the undercard of the Mosley-Berto welterweight title bout last Saturday night in Las Vegas. But that card fell apart as a result of the Haiti disaster which took the lives of several of Berto's family. ``The IBF had set a January 30th deadline [for this fight] but accommodated us with the additional week,'' said Leon Margules, executive director of Warriors Boxing, which co-promotes Johnson. ``We were fortunate that ESPN put up the funds to make the fight possible in such a short time.''
Glen Johnson lives in and fights out of Miami, Florida and is promoted by Seminole
Warriors Boxing. The Johnson-Mack bout will be a title eliminator, with the winner
becoming the mandatory challenger to International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight
champion Tavoris Cloud. Johnson's last fight was a loss against champ Chad Dawson
on November 7th. That fight was a rematch. In their first fight, Johnson took Dawson
all the way to the wire, nearly winning it. But in the rematch, Chad stayed on the
outside and outboxed Glen to an easier win.
Now, the 41 year-old Johnson is looking to get back into another IBF title fight via this eliminator match-up with Mack. Johnson has 49 wins to his credit against 13 losses and 2 draws. He is 41 years of age, and many critics see this as the beginning of the end for Glen's boxing career. The only question is will he go out with a bang, or will he be on the losing end of yet another close decision.
Yusaf Mack is 28-2-2, and only 30 years old. He has a 3 inch height advantage as
well. His biggest win was a split decision over 23-1 Chris Henry, in a fight where
many think Henry wasn't at his best. Mack's biggest loss came to champ Librado Andrade,
so he too is looking to gain another title opportunity here against Johnson. He is
ranked #4 by the WBC, #5 by the IBF. #6 by the WBA and #9 by Ring magazine.
All in all, this should be a very solid match-up. Glen Johnson is a pressure fighter who just never lets up. He keeps on coming and pounding and walking right through you.
On the other side, the "Mack Attack", Yusaf is a very hard puncher. He is the only fighter to have knocked down Librado Andrade even though he lost the fight. He'll be swinging hard, trying to make a big impression going into a possible showdown with Tavoris Cloud. However, it's well documented that Mack fades after starting strong. Andrade knocked him out in the 7th round of their bout. So it looks as though Mack must knock Johnson out early or somehow find the stamina to last through the sure barrage Glen will bring on him. Strong and steady versus younger and hungrier. Only one of them can win, and then challenge for the throne.
Also scheduled to fight on the card is two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux. He'll be facing Adolfo Landeros (20-12-1) at super-bantamweight. Rigondeaux is undefeated as a pro, with four wins. He recently defected from Cuba after an excellent amateur career there to sign with a Miami promoter. The southpaw boxer–puncher won gold at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He is also World Champion from 2001 and 2005. As a pro, he has already captured the NABA super bantamweight title in only his 3rd fight, beating Giovanni Andrade - Andrade had 60 pro wins at the time vs 11 defeats.
By UPPERCUTTER
