Johnson wins one for late father, stops Buglioni
By John J. Raspanti
Entering the ring with the word “Dad” on his t-shirt, Commonwealth light heavyweight titleholder Callum Johnson required a little over a minute to stop British champion Frank Buglioni in the opening round at the O2 Arena in London, England Saturday night.
The fighters wasted no time letting their hands go. Buglioni jabbed and fired a few punches.Johnson,32, avoided most of the shots and nailed Buglioni with a sharp right hand. Buglioni,28 absorbed the shot and landed his own right, but Johnson (17-0, 12 KOs) walked right through it and continued to fire punches.
A left hook off the temple drove Buglioni (21-3-1, 15 KOs) to the ropes. He was hurt, and Johnson knew it.
Buglioni tried to cover up, but a right off the top of the head floored him. He got up quickly but looked dazed—like he was trying to wake up from a nightmare. It wasn’t to be.
Johnson, fighting for the first time in 18 months, wasted no time. He ate a Buglioni shot and fired a number of wicked hooks—punctuated by another right hand. The punch buckled Buglioni’s knees and sent the soon to be ex champion wobbling to the other side of the ring. The referee checked on Buglioni and waved off the contest. Buglioni protested to no avail.
The time was 1:31 of the opening stanza.
“I want to keep proving everyone wrong,” said Johnson in the ring. “Everything I’ve done I give it to me dad. He always believed in me. He told me since I was 15 that I would do this. I’m starting to believe him.
“I can knock out any light heavyweight in the world,” he added.
“I knew he was dangerous,” said a crestfallen Buglioni who lost for the third time in his career. “I felt I was OK to continue, but I’m always going to say that.”
The card was promoted by Matchroom Sport.
Pickup your copy of Intimate Warfare, by Dennis Taylor and John J. Raspanti on www.amazon.com.
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