Boxing.com

Showtime’s Super Six Boxing Classic is nearing its end. With its convoluted scoring, imprecise schedule, and its revolving door of fighters, replacements, and surrogates, the tournament is not what Showtime’s executives first envisioned. But the Super Six has drawn attention to the sport, most of it positive, while showcasing some, if not all, of the best super middleweights on the planet.

Next Saturday night at Boardwalk Arena in Atlantic City, the eagerly anticipated semi-final between Carl Froch and Glen Johnson gets underway. Froch is the betting favorite. He’s the premier fighter. He sometimes struggles with slick boxers, but Glen Johnson doesn’t do slick.

Johnson got a late start, at age 20, and compiled an amateur record of 35-5 before turning pro in 1993. He won his first 32 fights. His unbeaten streak ended in1997 when he was TKO’d by Bernard Hopkins, another grand old man of boxing, in a fight for the IBF middleweight title. After that loss Johnson needed to regroup. Instead, he kept on fighting.

Johnson lost nine of his next 18 bouts, with two draws. Johnson’s always been the underdog—he was born an underdog—and lost many questionable decisions. But he was beginning to look less like a contender than a stepping stone.

Johnson silenced the doubters in 2004, when he avenged a questionable decision loss to Clinton Woods to become IBF light heavyweight champion. Later that year he flattened Roy Jones Jr. with a crushing right in Memphis. In Johnson’s next fight he upset Antonio Tarver in L.A.

Johnson has had 14 fights since beating Tarver. He won 10, and lost four, all by decision. A late addition to the Showtime tournament, Johnson thanks those who made it possible. “I throw my name in the bucket,” he says, “to bring me in. I appreciate it.” Johnson showed his appreciation by stopping Allan Green in eight rounds and advancing to the semis.

But Green is no Carl Froch. Froch wins, and wins big. He can box. He can punch. He uses the ring. He can think on his feet. Froch is also smart. He’s thought about Johnson. He’s studied Johnson. He knows what Johnson has to offer.

Johnson thinks Froch can think all he wants. “My advantage is being Glen Johnson,” he says. “I think I know boxing inside and out, so just going in there and be confident and use my skills to my potential and you’ll see me come out victorious. Carl Froch is a great fighter. I have no disrespect toward him. This is about business, and I’m all about my business. I’m going in there to win the fight. All talk and all of the other stuff goes out the window. This is for all the marbles, so we’re going in there to win the fight.”

Johnson always fights like there’s no tomorrow, which for a fighter his age is usually the case. But Johnson gets it done. There’s nothing subtle about his all-action, in your face, kamikaze, I’m-coming-to-get-you style. Johnson wants to hurt. He wants to knock you out.

“I don’t really concern myself too much with what Carl Froch’s plan is, what he’s going to do,” admits Johnson. “I’m more concerned with what I’m going to do. I’m focused on my game plan. I’m focused on the stuff that I gotta get in the ring and do. I believe I have a winning formula and I don’t think Carl Froch is the one that can tell me different.”

Johnson has been at it for years. The clock is ticking, time marches on, and Glen Johnson still delivers.

“I definitely have the urgency that I’m supposed to have going into any fight,” he says. “I mean I’m not getting any younger, to be honest with you. I’m not going to take any fight for granted. But at the same time, I know that I have a lot of skills and talent left in me and I’m looking forward to showing that to the people. A lot of people in boxing know what I can do. They’ve seen me do it time and time again, so there’s a lot of respect out there for me.

“On a higher level, I’m coming out there to show the people what I can still do, and really convince them, and want to walk away from this tournament being the champion. I suppose a lot of people might have questions, are skeptical about what I still can do at my age. But I’m actually excited when people talk about my age and focus on my age because that means they’re not focusing on what I’m bringing to the table.”

It will be a huge upset if Johnson defeats Froch. But upset is what Johnson does.