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In a battle of the veterans, former champions at light heavyweight clash when Montell Griffin and Glen Johnson meet in a title eliminator at the Hard Rock Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida tonight.
Both men have victories over the great Roy Jones Jr to boast about.
As a massive underdog against Jones in 1997, Griffin came into the bout with victories over the likes of James Toney and former title challenger David Vedder. On 21 March of that year, Griffin frustrated the undefeated Jones for nine rounds before being hit whilst on the deck to force a disqualification.
Griffin wasn’t too fortunate in the rematch five months later, being starched in the first round to lose his newly acquired title.
That was 10 years ago. Since then Griffin has endured mixed fortunes, although he was won more than he lost. However, at top level he has just fallen short.
In a WBO title bid, he was stopped in four by Dariusz Michalczewski in 1999. In 2003, on a bid for the vacant IBF and WBC titles, he was a points loser against Antonio Tarver. Also, defeats in eliminators to the likes of Rico Hoye and Julio Gonzalez have occurred.
So, can Griffin take that extra step to victory against Glen Johnson?
Like Griffin, Johnson’s career has been anything but a smooth one. After an undefeated run at the start of his career which lasted four years, Johnson had his first title tilt at middleweight against Bernard Hopkins in 1997. In a one sided bout against the outstanding Executioner, Johnson was stopped in 11.
More often than not, Johnson found himself on the road and also on the wrong side of various decision verdicts. An IBF tilt at super middleweight in 1999 against Sven Ottke saw him lose a fight he could of won. Fast forward five months later to Italy in April 2000 and it was a points defeat to Silvio Branco.
Back in the states, close decision losses to the likes of Derrick Harman and Julio Gonzalez in 2002 and 2003 respectively happened at light heavyweight.
A disputed draw verdict against Sheffield’s Clinton Woods in November 2003 once again happened in his opponents hometown and it seemed that Johnson would never get a break.
Finally, 2004 would be the year where it all went right for Johnson. An emphatic points win over Woods in the rematch followed and the year would conclude with a KO win over Roy Jones Jr in September, followed by a points win over recognised number 1 Antonio Tarver in December.
Finally, when things seemed to be going right, it all went wrong again. A close decision loss followed in the rematch with Tarver and in the rubber match with Clinton Woods in 2006, Johnson fought well before losing a close points decision.
Now he finds himself in another elimination bout.
Its fair to say that the careers of both Griffin and Johnson have seen highs and lows, but the main question is how much have either got left?
With the lure of a world title fight looming for the winner, both men should be up for it. However, in analysing this bout I’m going to go on recent form.
Although recently defeated by Woods, Johnson showed that he still has plenty left and I reckon that he will just outwork Griffin en route to a decision win.
