Glen "Road Warrior" Johnson Marches On, but for How Much Longer?

Back in January of 1993, Bill Clinton had just succeeded George H.W. Bush as the 42nd President, the Buffalo Bills had just lost their third consecutive Super Bowl, and somewhere in Florida Glen Johnson embarked on his pugilistic journey.

He's 41 years old, entering his 16th year as a professional prizefighter and his next bout will be the 65th of his career. Of those, he has been on the losing end on 13 occasions.

Most fighters with those numbers would seriously be contemplating retirement.

Glengoffe Donovan Johnson isn't most fighters.

The Jamaican born fighter will be featured in this weeks ESPN Friday Night Fights main event as he takes on Yusaf Mack at the NSU Arena in Ft. Lauderdale.

A win over Mack in this IBF elimination bout will earn Johnson a crack at Tavoris Cloud's portion of the Light Heavyweight title.

Johnson's last fight was a decision loss to Chad Dawson for the WBC championship.

So, how does the humble 41-year-old fighter with the journeyman-like record stay in the title mix?

It's been a long road.

He's never relied on being flashy inside the ring or outspoken outside of it.

"Gentleman" Glen as he was known early on in his career quietly built a record of 32-0 before running into one of the all-time great middleweights in Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins shut him out for 10 straight rounds before stopping him in the 11th stanza.

His next two bouts ended in controversial decision losses that, as with many of his losses, easily could and should have been scored in his favor.

With the losses rapidly piling up on his record he could have easily entered boxing purgatory as a gatekeeper.

Four consecutive wins during 1999 in the super middleweight division had him knocking on Sven Ottke's door for his second bid at a world title. Just as in his first attempt at a belt he wouldn't be scored as the victor.

And just as the case after the Hopkins bout, the losses would once again come raining down on Johnson. Once again, many of them could and should have been scored in his favor.

It wouldn't be until 2003 that Johnson's luck in the ring would take a turn for the better as he faced Clinton Woods for the vacant IBF Light Heavyweight strap. Once again the belt would elude him, this time via a controversial draw. 

The difference this time being that the world took notice of the boxer's hard luck.

Woods' promoter even took care of Johnson's expenses after the fight acknowledging that Johnson was wronged in Woods' backyard that night.

The Boxing God's smiled down on Glen Johnson during the rematch three months later as he was awarded a unanimous decision as well as the IBF Light Heavyweight crown.

After 11 years in the sport, his dream of being a champion became a reality.

A high profile with Roy Jones, Jr. would immediately follow. Jones had just come off of a devastating knockout loss to Antonio Tarver and despite Johnson holding a belt he would widely be considered a stepping-stone for Jones in order for him to get back to the top.

Johnson shocked the world as he out-boxed Jones before nearly decapitating him in the ninth round in a bout that the Ring Magazine deemed "2004 Upset of the Year."

Suddenly, Glen Johnson was on top of the boxing world. He was a champion and had nothing but big paydays on the horizon.

In a battle of the two Roy Jones conquerors Johnson out-pointed Tarver and his stock continued to soar.

Unfortunately for Johnson most of that momentum was lost after a loss in a rematch with Tarver in 2005. 

While he has posted many wins since that loss, the glory of regaining a championship has continued to elude him. He failed in title bids against Clinton Woods in their third affair and came up short against Chad Dawson twice.

Yet here he is again, just as he has so many times before, quietly putting himself in position to vie for another title.

He's never been the biggest of punchers. Never been the fastest or the flashiest of fighters.

Win or lose the "Road Warrior" keeps marching on, undeterred.

So, why stop now?

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