LIFE ON THE ROAD
DRENCHED in sweat, former IBF light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson hammers the sizzling concrete pavements with the same youthful aplomb that accompanied him from Clarendon, Jamaica to South Florida almost 40 years ago. This routine continues daily, and his heart continues beating. Now aged 51, the body still works — some parts of it, anyway.
He answers my call with that familiar, Caribbean lilt; relaxed and ready to relive his incredible career in depth for Boxing News. Johnson was infamously dubbed the “Road Warrior” throughout his professional career, remembered for fearlessly challenging some of his generation’s greatest champions. But it was all purely by chance.
After continually delaying his retirement, the proud ex-professional from Middlesex County still runs regularly, seeking solace on the sidewalk. He explains: “The darkest period of my career, I’d say it was when I knew it was coming to an end. That’s always the toughest part, when you see the end is near and your brain doesn’t want to leave, but everything else says, ‘It’s time to go.’ Your skills are diminishing. Your energy, everything inside that’s becoming an old person is manifesting itself.
“I think the
