Johnson's breakthrough occurred in November 2003 when he agreed to fight Clinton Woods, who was the IBF's number one light heavyweight contender, in Woods's hometown, Sheffield, England. Coincidentally, Tarver was both the WBC and IBF light heavyweight champ at the time. However, Tarver relinquished the IBF title as part of his agreement to fight Jones this past May for the WBC belt. "I started lobbying the IBF that they should make Glen's fight with Woods a title bout," Johnson says. "They bought into it. Glen ends up beating the piss out of the guy, but it ends in a draw."
Jonathan Postal
Related Content
More About
One judge scored it in favor of Johnson, another scored in favor of Woods and the third judge called the fight a split decision. "There was dead silence when the announcement was made," says Lorenz, who was covering the fight. "After the fight, I was having dinner with Glen and his camp at one of the sponsors' restaurants. The owner came over to the table and told Glen: öChamps don't pay for anything in Sheffield, so everything is on me.'"
Foster complains that the judge who backed Woods had been corrupted by Woods's promoter, Englishman Dennis Hobson. "I have no evidence to that effect," Foster says. "But when everyone sees it one way, including the hometown judge, and then this other judge who calls it for the other guy was seen the night before having dinner and in the company of the promoter, well, two plus two equals four." (Hobson did not return phone messages left at his Sheffield office). Foster says he made his case to IBF officials to hold a rematch. This past February, Foster got his wish, and Johnson beat Woods by a unanimous decision paving the way for his fight against Jones. "It was mere coincidence that Jones needed to fight for a title belt in order to justify another fight between him and Tarver," Foster says. "So naturally, Roy's people contacted us."
But even though Johnson was the IBF champion, Foster says they had to accept a number of concessions. "The biggest disadvantage Glen has right now is that he has nine losses on his record," Foster says. "In boxing, the perception is that you're no good if you have lost more than five matches, so we took the short money. We realized we were only being approached because we had the good fortune of winning a belt. To Jones's people, we were peons at best; barely worth the consideration. Yet we ate all that shit because of the opportunity to showcase our guy against arguably the best opponent we could land at that moment. And when the money is ten, fifteen times bigger than any other purse you have ever seen, you bite the bullet."
On November 10, Johnson agreed to fight Tarver in what was supposed to be a bout to unify the WBC and IBF light heavyweight titles. Because of the politics of the sanctioning bodies, Johnson and Tarver will be squaring off for bragging rights and the promise of superstardom. The WBC and IBF would not grant either boxer permission to fight each other. Instead, the bodies wanted them to fight their respective number one contenders. "You know that television drives this business," Foster explained. "Although Tarver was going to defend his title on HBO pay-per-view, we did not have that luxury."
Besides, a fight between Tarver and Australian Paul Briggs or an IBF title bout between Johnson and Rico Hoye would pale in comparison to the interest in a showdown between the men who floored Jones. It's a big reason the December 18 match is going to be broadcast live by HBO World Championship Boxing. "We're going to take the fight that provides Glen and his family with financial security for years to come," Foster reasons.
Foster won't say what Johnson will get paid for fighting Tarver. But he concedes that Tarver will receive top billing. "His persona and his numerous fights on television have made Tarver more of a well-known, celebrity-type boxer," Foster says. "Once again, we have to take the short money and concede some things in order to propel Johnson's popularity."
Johnson recently returned from a cruise ready to go. Five days a week, he shows up at Fight Club around 10:00 a.m. His trainer tapes up his hands and sends him into the ring to work on his footwork and his punching motion. An hour later, he begins his sparring sessions with Moore and Harmon. The sparring sessions are followed by an hourlong workout hitting the punching bags that dangle like slabs of meat from a row of iron tie-beams next to Fight Club's main boxing ring.
Today, Johnson is on a tear. After dispatching Moore, he doesn't waste time going to work on Harmon. For four rounds, the two pound each other mercilessly. Again, Johnson shows off his great center of gravity as he pushes Harmon into the ropes. Although Harmon gets a few shots in, Johnson consistently gets the better of his opponent. Spit and sweat fly out of the ring as if from a battered sprinkler system. During one sequence of punches, Harmon's head bounces back and forth as if he were a bobblehead doll. Oscar Cuellar, Johnson's trainer, a cueballed Cuban American whose family trained Olympic fighters, shouts words of encouragement at his boxer: "That's it champ! Don't let him see what's coming!"
Following the workout Foster tells a guest that before the sparring began, he had shown Johnson a recent article in which Tarver brags about his upcoming fight. "He's quoted saying he can't wait to knock Glen out," Foster says. "I think Glen was seeing Tarver in the ring today."
