Mack (28-3-2, 17 KOs) tried to follow Dawson’s game-plan by sticking and moving versus Johnson (50-13-2, 34 KOs) and getting the best of it through the first three rounds of the fight, but Johnson’s trademark, his relentless pressure, started to wear down the Philadelphia native.
In rounds four and five Johnson started landing some big right hands, and was backing up Mack into the ropes. The Jamaican born Johnson continued to stalk Mack and it was paying off.
In the sixth Johnson dropped Mack with a right hand. Mack got back up, but was in trouble, and of course Johnson was not going to give him any breathing room. A few seconds later Mack tasted the canvas once again, courtesy of another right. This time Johnson sensed the end was near, and after decking Mack once again, this time with a left hook, referee Frank Gentile put a stop to the action at 2:21 of the round.
“I started off a bit tight in the first two rounds, but I started relaxing and finding my mark and little by little everything started to come together,” Johnson said. “I knew he was going to box me after seeing the Dawson fight, but not everybody is Dawson. Dawson is a gifted, long and rangy southpaw. When guys try to do that I’m not impressed, and I was able to break Mack down.”
At 41 it didn’t seem like father time was anywhere near Johnson. He showed the same style he has shown throughout his entire career.
“That style is what’s made me successful,” Johnson said. “I try not to slow down. You take breaks when you need it, but I continue to press the fight and please my fans.”
“I always said Glen does well against guys who come to fight,” trainer Orlando Cuellar said. “He started to make contact, and used his skill and his world class experience to win this fight. We saw Glen at his best.”
Now he is in line for another title shot, this time versus Cloud, a young fighter who has a similar brawling style to Johnson.
“I believe that’s a fan’s fight. He comes in to fight,” Johnson said. “The fans will be excited about that fight. I’m looking forward to that fight, and I think I’ll be victorious. I want to be a three time world champion.”
In a long awaited rematch in South Florida, Hollywood’s Ed Paredes knocked out Miami’s Joey Hernandez in the second round of their schedule 10 round welterweight bout.
Their first fight in August ended in a 10 round draw. It was a fight that saw a lot of animosity between the two fighters leading up to the fight and it boiled over inside and outside the ring.
During that first fight Paredes dropped Hernandez, and a little later Hernandez picked up Paredes and slammed him. He was deducted a point.
The southpaw, and better boxer, Hernandez was able to box the rest of the way and it seemed did enough to win a decision in the eyes of the press in attendance.
The judges didn’t see it that way, and the fight ended up even. After the fight Paredes’ fans and Hernandez’s fans got into verbal altercations, and in a few isolated cases, punches were exchanged.
Fast forward six months, and this time Paredes (24-3-1, 15 KOs) was poised to take matters into his own hands. The taller fighter was able to dictate the first round with his jab, landing a few right hands along the way.
The second round seemed to favor Hernandez (15-1-1, 8 KOs). “Twinkle Fingers” threw a couple of combinations that seemed to stagger Paredes, and although he was getting the best of the exchanges in the round, he was swimming in dangerous waters against the harder puncher.
Hernandez was bit, and bit hard. He threw a left hook and was caught with a Paredes left hook himself that sent him face first unto the canvas. Hernandez wasn’t able to get to his feet and was counted out by referee Sam Burgos at 1:53 of the round.
“I wanted to keep my composure, stay focused and do my job,” Paredes said. “Last time he got me out of my game plan and that’s why it went the 10 rounds. He started to exchange with me this time around and I caught him and knocked him out. I was the better man tonight.”
Hernandez, 25, was obviously disappointed after his first professional defeat, and said he felt weak from the start of the fight.
“I wasn’t myself tonight. That wasn’t me,” Hernandez said. “I don’t know if it was the weight. I had to lose a lot of weight [11 pounds in 5 days], and I didn’t have my legs under me. I felt I didn’t have the strength in my legs to box him, so I decided to exchange punches and either I was going to knock him out, or he was going to knock me out, but going into the fight I knew I couldn’t trade with him.”
Two-time Olympic gold medalist, Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba, needed only 28 seconds to put away Mexican Adolfo Landeros in their junior featherweight bout.
The southpaw Rigondeaux (5-0, 4 KOs) landed a strong left hook to the liver of Landeros (20-13-1, 9 KOs) sending him to the canvas in obvious pain. He was counted out and laid on the canvas for several minutes.
“I like throwing hooks to the body, especially against right handers,” Rigondeaux said.
“I told him the guy was a little dry, and to try and out him away early,” said Rigondeaux’s trainer Freddie Roach. “He landed one of the best body shots you’ll ever see. He looked great. I was happy.”
Roach said he’s been trying to get Rigondeaux, 29, to be more aggressive in the ring, and be more of a power puncher instead of the slick boxer we saw in the amateur ranks. Getting him to change styles after 400 plus amateur fights is no easy task.
“I want him to be more offensive and go after these guys,” Roach said. “He’s got tremendous punching power. For a 119 pounder he can really punch. We’ve been working on being more aggressive, more combinations, and not being in counterpunching mode so much. He likes to lay back. That’s the Cuban style; the counterpunching. Changing styles after 475 fights is tough, and he’s not changing it as fast as I’d like him to, but he’s working on it. In professional boxing people like knockouts, and he has all the tools to be a knockout artist in the pros.”
On the undercard junior middleweight Yudel Johnson (5-0, 3 KOs) of Cuba – also a former Olympian -- stopped Dorian Beaupierre (12-6-2, 6 KOs) at 2:18 of the first round.
Another fellow Cuban Olympic medalist, Yordanis Despaigne (5-0, 4 KOs) took out veteran Demetrius Davis (19-19-5, 7 KOs) in the third round of a super middleweight fight.
Cruiserweight Yunier Dorticos (3-0, 3 KOs), also of Cuba, dropped Gary Lavender (8-14, 7 KOs) twice en route to a first round stoppage.
Pedro Rodriguez (1-0) stopped Hilario Guzman (8-29-6, 1 KO) in the third round of a heavyweight fight.
Heavyweight Glendy Hernandez (1-0) was dropped, but won a four round unanimous decision versus Corey Winfield (3-5, 2 KOs).
Yuniel Ramos (0-2) didn’t come out for the fourth round in his bout against good looking fighter Yoandris Salinas (2-0, 1 KO) in a featherweight attraction.
In a middleweight fight Manny Woods (3-0, 1 KO) outpointed Erix Quinteros (2-3) in four rounds.
