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Tonight in Bolton, England IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Clinton Woods kept his belt in a stirring slugfest with former titlist Glen Johnson via a split decision victory. It was the pair’s third contest against each other and the Fight Academy promoted Woods, 40-3-1 (24), ceded the first round to Johnson, 44-11-2 (29), but the Sheffield battler refused to fold and turned the tide after weathering the initial onslaught.
With the shorter Johnson plowing straight in behind overhand shots, Woods found a home for his arsenal of shorter punches, repeatedly rocking the visiting American fighter with a shrewd uppercut as he began to pick up a noticeable lead in the second and third frames.
“The Road Warrior” came back and imposed his will on Woods and take the fourth, fifth and sixth sessions but the two combatants swapped massive shots in what had become a torrid thriller.
The 37 year old Johnson was gassed from his mid-fight push, allowing Woods to turn the tide once again in the seventh and eighth rounds but the ninth was a completely different story as the challenger suddenly sprang to life and unleashed a blistering typhoon of leather that had the Englishman in deep trouble, almost out on his feet
But Woods somehow managed to survive and came back stronger as Johnson had expended a great deal of energy in his ninth round gamble. Woods took the fight to his rival and swept the championship rounds, convincing two of three judges to side in his favor.
Official scores were 116-112 Woods, 115-112 Woods and 114-112 Johnson.
After the bout, Johnson’s promoters, Warriors Boxing, filed an official protest claiming that one of Woods’ team jumped up on the apron while the eleventh round was being contested, which they claim under IBF rules should have resulted in an immediate disqualification of Woods.
Stay tuned to SaddoBoxing for more on this developing story.
