I think that Woods will just squeak by Johnson by decision.
Woods seems to be getting better with age, and Johnson IMO has slipped just a little.
Woods v Johnson Poll
Re: Woods v Johnson Poll
Top post i feel exatly the same. I think as Woods has got alot better recently and is probably now actually in his fighting prime (maybe not a physical prime but the Woods of today batters the Woods of 3 4 & 5 years ago) and Johnson has regressed (although i will be honest i havent seen much of him atall).topper123 wrote:I think that Woods will just squeak by Johnson by decision.
Woods seems to be getting better with age, and Johnson IMO has slipped just a little.
I feel Woods can win this rough action packed fight, but i am far from being confident and wouldnt be surprised or too upset if it went the other way.
I think Woods will win having tipped him twice to beat Johnson though - I'm not very good at this.
I think Woods will win, but will he get the decision is another matter. Its going to be tight and not very controvesial (about as controvesial as the draw was in fight 1) - I just feel though Woods will have to be dominant to win, might even need to stop him.
Having said that, Woods hurt him in fight one and I thought Johnson has slipped after that first fight (to me he won the first fight bigger than the rematch). I don't think a Woods stoppage win is beyond the realms of possibility.
I think Woods will win, but will he get the decision is another matter. Its going to be tight and not very controvesial (about as controvesial as the draw was in fight 1) - I just feel though Woods will have to be dominant to win, might even need to stop him.
Having said that, Woods hurt him in fight one and I thought Johnson has slipped after that first fight (to me he won the first fight bigger than the rematch). I don't think a Woods stoppage win is beyond the realms of possibility.
-
Old bones Ian
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 11805
- Joined: 13 Jul 2004, 07:33
anyone remember how knackered Johnson was in the 2nd fight? & how he was staggered for like 20 secs in the 1st one be4 going down from a punch the ref didn't see? little things like that will be maniifed in this bout. Woods has got fresher, Johnson might have got smarter but definitely not fitter.
Woods has said, if he wins he doesn't want ppl to say Johnson was shot. Fair enough. GJ looked great in his last 2 fights
Woods has said, if he wins he doesn't want ppl to say Johnson was shot. Fair enough. GJ looked great in his last 2 fights
Johnson looked so-so against George Jones, and he was looking bad late until the stoppage. He caught Jones on the ropes and just pounded him about 15 times unanswered, asked the ref to stop it, and kep pounding away. Slow boring fight, but good ending.josh fg wrote:To be honnest looking at the fight I think Johnson will fade toward the end and get sloppy, I think Johnson may win early rounds but Johnson will KO him towards the end of the fight.
I think he looked really good vs GKJ. Very economical, knew what he was doing, just slowly chopping the guy down. I liked the look of him vs Hall as well, he did some nice counter punching.Mattyp151 wrote:Johnson looked so-so against George Jones, and he was looking bad late until the stoppage. He caught Jones on the ropes and just pounded him about 15 times unanswered, asked the ref to stop it, and kep pounding away. Slow boring fight, but good ending.josh fg wrote:To be honnest looking at the fight I think Johnson will fade toward the end and get sloppy, I think Johnson may win early rounds but Johnson will KO him towards the end of the fight.
Woods has improved and Johnson back slidden for want of a better word, Woods was in terrible condition due to dietary problems in the first two fights and Johnson still only squeaked by. I see a strong and dominant Woods controlling the tempo and hurting Johnson en route to a late stoppage.
Of course i am often wrong so don't read too much into it.
Of course i am often wrong so don't read too much into it.
-
pundit
- Heavyweight
-
MightyWarrior
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 13284
- Joined: 23 Jan 2003, 14:01
Hard to call with Johnson hitting 38 soon....but people say Clint has improved since they last met, but check Glen's record since: he's gone onto beat Tarver & Jones, plus a couple of good L heavies.
I think Johnson grinds out another win over Woods. Though I'd like to see Clint pull off a win of course.
I think Johnson grinds out another win over Woods. Though I'd like to see Clint pull off a win of course.
Clinton Woods defends his IBF light-heavyweight title against rightful holder and former conqueror Glen Johnson.
It's crunch time for Woods, who won the IBF title essentially stripped from Johnson (the American relinquished before he was stripped) and made two impressive defences. But until he beats Johnson, he will never be recognised as the true champion.
The two met for the vacant IBF light-heavyweight title in Sheffield in November 2003. Woods was on home ground and gave it a good go, but looked lucky to share the spoils. With the title still vacant, they met again three months later. Johnson returned to Sheffield and lifted the belt on a unanimous decision. In his first defence in Memphis, he sealed his status with a nine-round knockout of the great Roy Jones.
"From Sheffield to the top of the world", hailed Boxing News.
Ludicrously, the IBF then threatened to strip "Gentleman" Glen if he took on WBC champion Antonio Tarver in a lucrative unification showdown (as opposed to top contender Rico Hoye). The WBC issued the same threat to Tarver (if he didn't face their mandatory Paul Briggs). The two champions relinquished and fought anyway: Johnson took a split decision in Los Angeles in December 2004.
As for Woods, he picked up the vacant IBF belt when he outclassed Hoye at a packed Magna Centre in Rotherham last year. It was a triumph, a hollow triumph, for experience over potential and power. Hoye came in with a puncher's reputation but Woods had tackled Johnson and a peak Jones and jumped on the tall Detroiter, hurting him in the first round and picking him off with crisp combinations thereafter. By the fifth, referee Ian John-Lewis had seen enough.
"I've got a collection now," said Clinton, a former undefeated British, Commonwealth and European champion - "what other British fighter has a belt like this?" (Just Joe Calzaghe.)
In his first defence in Sheffield last September, Woods boxed to an excellent points win over American-Mexican Julio Cesar Gonzalez (unanimous), who holds a 10-round decision over Johnson. He dismantled Aussie Jason DeLisle in six rounds in his second defence in Sheffield earlier this year.
But veteran Johnson casts a long shadow over his reign.
The Floridian of Jamaican origin is a throwback, who has mastered his trade, stays in shape and troubles everyone. A pro 13 years, 37-year-old Johnson went close in IBF title challenges at middleweight and super-middleweight before trouncing Woods for the title at light-heavy. He's the kind of fighter who looks to have been plucked out of the 1950s, advancing behind a tight guard and and picking classy shots to head and body as he does. And those shots have snap. The challenger has stopped 29 of his 44 beaten opponents. He once put together a winning streak of 32. In 56 fights, only Philly great Bernard Hopkins has stopped him (11 hard rounds).
Hailed the best light-heavy in the world after that win over Florida rival Tarver in 2004, Johnson was outscored in a rematch last year but bounced back with wins over class Americans George Khalid Jones and Richard Hall to secure mandatory status to Woods. It won't bother Glen he has to travel again. As well as those two stellar displays in Sheffield, London fans saw him outclass Londoner Toks Owoh in six rounds at York Hall in 2000 and Berlin fans, Berliner Thomas Ulrich a year later, also in six. His nickname is "Road Warrior". Despite his years on the road, he's lost only to Tarver in the last three-and-a-half years.
He's never lost in the UK.
Woods has also paid his dues in a career dating back to 1994. The tall, gritty, conventional Yorkshireman turned pro at super-middleweight and after 12 straight wins picked up the Central Area title with a 10-round decision over Bradford's Craig Joseph. He was 17-0 when he travelled to Wembley and won the vacant Commonwealth super-middleweight title outscoring canny Mark Baker, a title he lost in his first defence to Pakenham's David Starie (points).
At 6ft 2ins (three inches taller than Johnson), Woods really struggled to make super-middle for Starie. He moved up and within 12 months was British, Commonwealth and European light-heavyweight champion, courtesy of an eight-round stoppage of fellow Yorkshireman Crawford Ashley in Manchester in 1999.
He defended the Commonwealth title twice; the European title twice. He scoffed at the spurious 'world' titles so available in the modern era. The title he wanted was the undisputed light-heavyweight crown perched on the head of the mighty Jones. Clinton came through a final eliminator against Uganda's dangerous Yawe Davis in Sheffield and made his way to Portland in Oregon in September 2002 and got stuck into the fleet-footed American. He landed a solid right in the second, forced Jones to stand and trade in the third and fourth... By the sixth, however, the champion's pot-shotting - particularly to the body - had taken its toll. On the prompting of Clinton's corner (and Jones himself), referee Jay Nady stepped in to save Woods midway through the round.
"He has a huge heart," said Jones.
Woods had relinquished his titles to concentrate on the Jones crack but remained high in the rankings and won three on the spin to secure that second world title attempt against Johnson in Sheffield, broadcast live by the BBC (1.9 million tuned in). After 12 quality rounds, scorecards read 116-112 for Johnson, 115-113 for Woods and 114-114 - a draw.
"No way!" Johnson demanded. "I gave him maybe three rounds at most, and they were some close rounds. If the British judge called it a draw (Doncaster's Howard Foster, who referees on Saturday), then that should automatically tell you who won the fight."
The mandated rematch settled it. Glen hurt Woods early, cracked a couple of his ribs and maintained the pressure to seal the unanimous decision. He went on to flatten Jones in spectacular fashion. A clean knockout.
Woods also looked strong when he landed the IBF title at the fourth attempt thrashing Hoye in March 2005, a fight which brought the curtain down on the Beeb's half-hearted boxing coverage (1.4 million). "I was in such good shape after my health problems," said the new champion. He attributes the Johnson loss to an iron deficiency.
You know, much is made of the fact Woods only got the title by default, but the politics that led to him being crowned were nothing to do with him. He got an opportunity and took it against the unbeaten, hard-hitting Hoye, who came in a big favourite with the bookies (and a convicted killer). And Clinton's win over Gonzalez in his first defence was huge (Gonzalez holds that win over Johnson, remember, and ended the nine-year WBO title reign of Dariusz Michalczewski in 2003). That win alone commands respect.
Clinton also looked hot against DeLisle a defence later.
The champion's strength and stamina are exceptional. His jab is a highly-underrated weapon, his combinations too (his hands are deceptively quick). As for his chin, he got hit with everything but the kitchen sink by Jones and also took some almighty wallops off Johnson. But in 12 years as a pro, only the rugged DeLisle and Norwegian banger Ole Klemetsen have floored him.
Woods climbed up to stop both.
Yes, he's had other 'moments'. New Zealand's Sam Leuii stunned him in the third round of a Commonwealth title defence; Johnson in the second in the rematch... But Woods never ducked the best opponents, the best titles. He took the traditional route on the way up, winning British, Commonwealth and European titles - all of which he never lost in the ring. He then worked his way to major world title shots and now holds a major world title belt. "I've come through the hard way," he said. "You have to have it hard coming up or you're just not ready at real top level."
Trouble is, Johnson has had it even harder. "There's nobody in boxing who has taken the road I've taken and made it," said the grizzled road warrior, robbed time and again on the road until they could rob him no more. His combined sense of relief and jubilation when he finally got the nod over Woods brought a lump to the throat. And he picked up a nice million dollar payday sparking Jones in September 2004. Every dog has its day.
"It means I can put my kids through High School," barked Glen.
So this is a real coming together of unfashionable, deserving pros. It's a shame there has to be a loser. Johnson's sequence of hard fights with hard opponents must start to tell soon at 37 after 56 fights (10 losses). But Woods is no spring chicken himself at 34 after 43 fights (only three losses). Expect Johnson to be just as sharp. It's about whether Clinton can improve. He says he can. He dished out a boxing lesson to DeLisle last time out in May, before finishing him with a cracking right uppercut in the sixth. Two years earlier in Sheffield, Woods took 12 rounds to stop Delisle in an IBF eliminator - and climbed off the floor to do so.
The Sheffield man has a point, then. He's looked better than ever in his last three fights (Hoye, Gonzalez and DeLisle). He has the title. He's lost only to Jones and Johnson in the last eight years. He's strong, busy, crafty and brave. His best bet, in my opinion, is to set a fast pace and maintain it. Johnson, the ultimate cutie, does need to grab breathers (37, remember).
While there's every chance Woods could pull off what amounts to a 'must' win for him and his place in world championship history, bottom line is, he twice failed to get past Johnson in Sheffield. That's impossible to overlook.
http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/images/top-left.gif
It's crunch time for Woods, who won the IBF title essentially stripped from Johnson (the American relinquished before he was stripped) and made two impressive defences. But until he beats Johnson, he will never be recognised as the true champion.
The two met for the vacant IBF light-heavyweight title in Sheffield in November 2003. Woods was on home ground and gave it a good go, but looked lucky to share the spoils. With the title still vacant, they met again three months later. Johnson returned to Sheffield and lifted the belt on a unanimous decision. In his first defence in Memphis, he sealed his status with a nine-round knockout of the great Roy Jones.
"From Sheffield to the top of the world", hailed Boxing News.
Ludicrously, the IBF then threatened to strip "Gentleman" Glen if he took on WBC champion Antonio Tarver in a lucrative unification showdown (as opposed to top contender Rico Hoye). The WBC issued the same threat to Tarver (if he didn't face their mandatory Paul Briggs). The two champions relinquished and fought anyway: Johnson took a split decision in Los Angeles in December 2004.
As for Woods, he picked up the vacant IBF belt when he outclassed Hoye at a packed Magna Centre in Rotherham last year. It was a triumph, a hollow triumph, for experience over potential and power. Hoye came in with a puncher's reputation but Woods had tackled Johnson and a peak Jones and jumped on the tall Detroiter, hurting him in the first round and picking him off with crisp combinations thereafter. By the fifth, referee Ian John-Lewis had seen enough.
"I've got a collection now," said Clinton, a former undefeated British, Commonwealth and European champion - "what other British fighter has a belt like this?" (Just Joe Calzaghe.)
In his first defence in Sheffield last September, Woods boxed to an excellent points win over American-Mexican Julio Cesar Gonzalez (unanimous), who holds a 10-round decision over Johnson. He dismantled Aussie Jason DeLisle in six rounds in his second defence in Sheffield earlier this year.
But veteran Johnson casts a long shadow over his reign.
The Floridian of Jamaican origin is a throwback, who has mastered his trade, stays in shape and troubles everyone. A pro 13 years, 37-year-old Johnson went close in IBF title challenges at middleweight and super-middleweight before trouncing Woods for the title at light-heavy. He's the kind of fighter who looks to have been plucked out of the 1950s, advancing behind a tight guard and and picking classy shots to head and body as he does. And those shots have snap. The challenger has stopped 29 of his 44 beaten opponents. He once put together a winning streak of 32. In 56 fights, only Philly great Bernard Hopkins has stopped him (11 hard rounds).
Hailed the best light-heavy in the world after that win over Florida rival Tarver in 2004, Johnson was outscored in a rematch last year but bounced back with wins over class Americans George Khalid Jones and Richard Hall to secure mandatory status to Woods. It won't bother Glen he has to travel again. As well as those two stellar displays in Sheffield, London fans saw him outclass Londoner Toks Owoh in six rounds at York Hall in 2000 and Berlin fans, Berliner Thomas Ulrich a year later, also in six. His nickname is "Road Warrior". Despite his years on the road, he's lost only to Tarver in the last three-and-a-half years.
He's never lost in the UK.
Woods has also paid his dues in a career dating back to 1994. The tall, gritty, conventional Yorkshireman turned pro at super-middleweight and after 12 straight wins picked up the Central Area title with a 10-round decision over Bradford's Craig Joseph. He was 17-0 when he travelled to Wembley and won the vacant Commonwealth super-middleweight title outscoring canny Mark Baker, a title he lost in his first defence to Pakenham's David Starie (points).
At 6ft 2ins (three inches taller than Johnson), Woods really struggled to make super-middle for Starie. He moved up and within 12 months was British, Commonwealth and European light-heavyweight champion, courtesy of an eight-round stoppage of fellow Yorkshireman Crawford Ashley in Manchester in 1999.
He defended the Commonwealth title twice; the European title twice. He scoffed at the spurious 'world' titles so available in the modern era. The title he wanted was the undisputed light-heavyweight crown perched on the head of the mighty Jones. Clinton came through a final eliminator against Uganda's dangerous Yawe Davis in Sheffield and made his way to Portland in Oregon in September 2002 and got stuck into the fleet-footed American. He landed a solid right in the second, forced Jones to stand and trade in the third and fourth... By the sixth, however, the champion's pot-shotting - particularly to the body - had taken its toll. On the prompting of Clinton's corner (and Jones himself), referee Jay Nady stepped in to save Woods midway through the round.
"He has a huge heart," said Jones.
Woods had relinquished his titles to concentrate on the Jones crack but remained high in the rankings and won three on the spin to secure that second world title attempt against Johnson in Sheffield, broadcast live by the BBC (1.9 million tuned in). After 12 quality rounds, scorecards read 116-112 for Johnson, 115-113 for Woods and 114-114 - a draw.
"No way!" Johnson demanded. "I gave him maybe three rounds at most, and they were some close rounds. If the British judge called it a draw (Doncaster's Howard Foster, who referees on Saturday), then that should automatically tell you who won the fight."
The mandated rematch settled it. Glen hurt Woods early, cracked a couple of his ribs and maintained the pressure to seal the unanimous decision. He went on to flatten Jones in spectacular fashion. A clean knockout.
Woods also looked strong when he landed the IBF title at the fourth attempt thrashing Hoye in March 2005, a fight which brought the curtain down on the Beeb's half-hearted boxing coverage (1.4 million). "I was in such good shape after my health problems," said the new champion. He attributes the Johnson loss to an iron deficiency.
You know, much is made of the fact Woods only got the title by default, but the politics that led to him being crowned were nothing to do with him. He got an opportunity and took it against the unbeaten, hard-hitting Hoye, who came in a big favourite with the bookies (and a convicted killer). And Clinton's win over Gonzalez in his first defence was huge (Gonzalez holds that win over Johnson, remember, and ended the nine-year WBO title reign of Dariusz Michalczewski in 2003). That win alone commands respect.
Clinton also looked hot against DeLisle a defence later.
The champion's strength and stamina are exceptional. His jab is a highly-underrated weapon, his combinations too (his hands are deceptively quick). As for his chin, he got hit with everything but the kitchen sink by Jones and also took some almighty wallops off Johnson. But in 12 years as a pro, only the rugged DeLisle and Norwegian banger Ole Klemetsen have floored him.
Woods climbed up to stop both.
Yes, he's had other 'moments'. New Zealand's Sam Leuii stunned him in the third round of a Commonwealth title defence; Johnson in the second in the rematch... But Woods never ducked the best opponents, the best titles. He took the traditional route on the way up, winning British, Commonwealth and European titles - all of which he never lost in the ring. He then worked his way to major world title shots and now holds a major world title belt. "I've come through the hard way," he said. "You have to have it hard coming up or you're just not ready at real top level."
Trouble is, Johnson has had it even harder. "There's nobody in boxing who has taken the road I've taken and made it," said the grizzled road warrior, robbed time and again on the road until they could rob him no more. His combined sense of relief and jubilation when he finally got the nod over Woods brought a lump to the throat. And he picked up a nice million dollar payday sparking Jones in September 2004. Every dog has its day.
"It means I can put my kids through High School," barked Glen.
So this is a real coming together of unfashionable, deserving pros. It's a shame there has to be a loser. Johnson's sequence of hard fights with hard opponents must start to tell soon at 37 after 56 fights (10 losses). But Woods is no spring chicken himself at 34 after 43 fights (only three losses). Expect Johnson to be just as sharp. It's about whether Clinton can improve. He says he can. He dished out a boxing lesson to DeLisle last time out in May, before finishing him with a cracking right uppercut in the sixth. Two years earlier in Sheffield, Woods took 12 rounds to stop Delisle in an IBF eliminator - and climbed off the floor to do so.
The Sheffield man has a point, then. He's looked better than ever in his last three fights (Hoye, Gonzalez and DeLisle). He has the title. He's lost only to Jones and Johnson in the last eight years. He's strong, busy, crafty and brave. His best bet, in my opinion, is to set a fast pace and maintain it. Johnson, the ultimate cutie, does need to grab breathers (37, remember).
While there's every chance Woods could pull off what amounts to a 'must' win for him and his place in world championship history, bottom line is, he twice failed to get past Johnson in Sheffield. That's impossible to overlook.
http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/images/top-left.gif
-
punchers chance
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 693
- Joined: 12 Jul 2005, 18:37
I don't buy into that robbed and robbed again. of ten losses, these are NOT robberies: Sheika, Harmon, Ottke, Sosa, Tarver II
These I have no clue about, losses to Vanderpool, Kiwanuka, Branco
These were dodgy: Judah, & apparently Julio Gonzalez, I'll concede Woods I (D12) also
Fact is, he's taken a lot of fights on short notice and ran out of gas more than once.
These I have no clue about, losses to Vanderpool, Kiwanuka, Branco
These were dodgy: Judah, & apparently Julio Gonzalez, I'll concede Woods I (D12) also
Fact is, he's taken a lot of fights on short notice and ran out of gas more than once.
Sheika's fight was incredibly close - could have gone either way. I did think Johnson just nicked it.viciousmaussa wrote:I don't buy into that robbed and robbed again. of ten losses, these are NOT robberies: Sheika, Harmon, Ottke, Sosa, Tarver II
These I have no clue about, losses to Vanderpool, Kiwanuka, Branco
These were dodgy: Judah, & apparently Julio Gonzalez, I'll concede Woods I (D12) also
Fact is, he's taken a lot of fights on short notice and ran out of gas more than once.
However, many people think he was a tad fortunate vs Tarver in fight 1.