Johnson Reigns Supreme with Split Decision Win over Tarver!

Ringside reports by Francisco Salazar and Whitfield Haydon

Photos by Chris Cozzone

Glen Johnson may be known as the road warrior, but he has finally found a home of being called the recognized Light Heavyweight champion of the world. For now.

Johnson worked his way to a hard-fought 12 round split decision victory over Antonio Tarver before an announced 9,126 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA.

The bout headlined a six-bout "True Champions" card, which was presented by Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing Promotions in association with Goossen Tutor Promotions.

At times, this was a tactical battle between two talented fighters who had defeated the great Roy Jones Jr., knockout. When it wasn't a chess match, both fighters fought tough and nail, landing hard punches that brought loud cheers from the crowd.

It was Johnson who pressed the action for most of the fight and allowed for him to take control in the early rounds. Hard shots to the body of Tarver would be a theme for Johnson in the fight.

Tarver came back and landed more punches in most of the middle rounds. Tarver connected more with combinations to the head and body of Johnson. However, as the fight progressed, Tarver would not through his left hand as often as he did in the earlier rounds.

"I hurt my left hand in the middle of the fight," said Tarver, who won a medal in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. "He took my left hand away."

In the fifth round, Johnson looked like he had Tarver momentarily off his feet with an accumulation of punches to the body and right hands to the head.

Tarver was energized going into the sixth round, coming straight at Johnson and landing hard shots that stopped Johnson in his tracks momentarily.

Johnson looked like he took control of the action in the latter rounds. Johnson landed the cleaner shots. Tarver would mount strong combinations, but a majority of the punches would be blocked due to Johnson's good defense.

It seemed like anybody's fight in the championship rounds as both Johnson and Tarver traded equal punches in the 11th round. Johnson momentarily had Tarver off-balanced at the end of the round.

The last round brought fireworks that could have been labeled as a candidate for round of the year. Tarver came on strong in the 12th round, momentarily shaking Johnson at the beginning of the round. Johnson came on to shake Tarver hard as well.

Tarver would land a hard left uppercut that stopped Johnson in his tracks. The amount of offense both fighters produced in the last minute of the round brought the crowd to its feet, cheering and applauding their efforts.

One judge scored the bout 116-112 for Tarver, while the other two judges scored the bout 115-113 and 115-113 for Johnson. Fightnews.com scored the bout 115-113 for Johnson.

Afterwards, both fighters provided different conclusions from the fight.

"I knew the fight was close going into the 12th round," said Johnson, who is now unbeaten in his last six bouts. "Antonio Tarver is a great fighter and he proved that he is a true champion. He never hurt me, but he did run some punches on me. However, I would block them and counter-punched effectively.

Tarver made no excuses, other than feeling that his hand should have been raised rather than Johnson's.

"I hurt him in the last round," said Tarver, who was stripped of the WBC title rather than fight number one ranked Paul Briggs. "I hit him with some good, hard shots. He was a good fighter. I did enough to win the fight. When he hit me, he didn't get anything. I thought I won the fight."

Both fighters are interested in a rematch.

In the bout, according to CompuBox, Tarver threw 853 total punches, connecting on 296 punches, while Johnson threw 796 total punches, connecting on 217 punches.

Johnson, from Miami, FL, improves to 42-9-2, 28 KO's. Tarver, from Orlando, FL, drops to 22-3, 18 KO's.

Gonzalez knocks out Telesco!
-- Whitfield Haydon

The Former WBO champion Julio Gonzalez pounded out a hard fought win over David Telesco in the walkout bout via an 8th round TKO.  Referee Jose Cobian stopped the fight at 1:06 of the eigth round as Gonzales won a bout that puts him right into the thick of things in the light heavyweight division.
 
After gutting out this tough one with Telesco, Gonzalez immediately had his sights set on Glencoffe Johnson.
 
"Glen is a tough fighter but I've already beat him.  He says he beat me though.  Johnson is the champ now so let's fight right here (at STAPLES)".
 
The waters were indeed rough in the early going for Gonzalez (now 37-2, 23 kayos) when David Telesco touched him with a hard left hook followed by a straight right two minutes into the third round.  Gonzalez was out on his feet with Telesco going for broke, pounding Gonzalez against the ropes as the round neared the end.
 
"He stunned me." Gonzalez said.
 
Things started to change for Gonzalez, however, as he began to take the fight to Telesco (now 29-5-1, 24 kayos).  Gonzalez came out in the fourth round and dedicated the round almost strictly to punching to the body, throwing very few shots upstairs.  The punches had an effect on Telesco, who was clearly bothered by this body work. 
 
The fifth had Gonzalez resuming the slugfest, now finding his range with overhand rights and a variety of combos.  He did his best work when he would use his left jab to the body and then follow with short right uppercuts that picked Telesco up.  A slow starting pressure fighter, it was a matter of time before the usual relentless Gonzalez did his thing - wearing down his opponent by banging inside and never giving him a second of rest.
 
"I started to control him witht the overhand rights and he began to drop his hands.  I also was doing a lot of damage with jabs."
 
Gonzalez dominated the rest of the fight.  Although Telesco had been doing serious work in good parts of the first four rounds, Gonzalez tilted the fight well into his direction the rest of the way.  Telesco was finding a home for his left hook early on in the bout as things looked questionable for Gonzalez with his career hung in the balance. In the eighth though, Gonzalez' cumulative effect on Telesco had taken its toll, and referee Jose Cobian rushed in rather prematurely, but the fight was going to go Gonzales' way regardless.  In all three fights Cobian refereed they all ended prematurely.  Make no mistake however, Telesco would have been lucky to get out of the round on his feet.
 
Telesco seemed rather bothered by the abrupt stoppage, and shortly after the fight stormed out of the ring looking highly upset.  By virtue of this win, Gonzalez left the ring beating a solid pro and with bright prospects for 2005.

Simms survives Bojorquez!
-- Whitfield Haydon

"Marvelous" Tarvis Simms (20-0, 11 kayos remained undefeated with a split decision victory over veteran Carlos Bojorquez.  Judge Jose Cobian had Bojorquez winning the fight 77-73, while both Fritz Werner and David Mendoza saw the fight 76-74 for Simms.  Both fighters came in under the 160 lb limit.
 
Simms was nearly the victim of his own mistake, having a point being taken away following a very late shot on Bojorquez after the bell to end the second round. 
 
A good four seconds after the round, Simms took a freebie at Bojorquez, who stumbled half way across the ring into the ropes.  This forced referee Tony Crebs to take away the point, a point that ultimately did not have any effect on the outcome of the fight in terms of the final scoring.
 
Out of the southpaw stance, Simms had tried to frustrate Bojorquez by movement and quick straight lefts in the early going, but Bojorquez' agressive mindset would pay off.  A minute into the second round Bojorquez connected with a short right hand off of a Simms miss, which dropped the stunned Simms to a knee for a count.  Added with the idea of losing a point at the end of the second round, Simms figured he had better get to work - and he did late in the fight.
 
Simms speed and stamina really started to show in the sixth round as Bojorquez was fading big-time.  The straight lefts kept coming and Bojorquez was trying to answer.  Unfortunately for Bojorquez his shots were starting to loop as he began to lose steam and accuracy on his shots as the fight wore onward.  By the seventh round, Bojorquez was shot and was beginning to get picked apart at will by Simms.  Simms was simply putting punches together in bunches while Bojorquez kept going to the well and coming up empty despite his best effort.
 
Fightnews had the fight even at 75-75.  The fight was originally scheduled to go ten rounds but it had to be cut down to eight in order to accomodate live television.  Had the fight gone another two rounds it would have been highly probable that Simms would have controlled them rather easily, and the lead that Bojorquez had built for himself would have disintegrated further.
 
Nonetheless, the 33 year old Simms looks to have finally stepped in the direction of quality opposition in Bojorquez (now 23-6-6, 19 kayos), and was able to produce a win despite catching big leather early.

Olympic Gold Medalist Ward wins debut!
-- Francisco Salazar

Super Middleweight Andre Ward won his professional debut, stopping Christopher Molina in the second round of a four round bout.

Ward was by far more polished than Molina, who used roughhouse tactics to intimidate Ward. He would talk to Ward or would motion for Ward to hit him on the chin.

A lead straight left hand by Ward dropped Molina to the canvas, which he got up and gestured that he was not hurt.

A combination by Ward had Molina take a knee in the second round. Molina pawed at his eye, got up, but referee Jose Cobian stopped the bout at 40 seconds of the round.

The 2004 Gold Medalist in Athens, Ward, from Oakland, CA, wins his professional debut. Molina, from Odessa, TX, drops to 2-1, 1 KO.

Mia beats Archuleta . . . again
-- Francisco Salazar

Mia St. John made quick work of Janae Archuleta, stopping her in the first round of a four round bout.

A right cross staggered Archuleta in a corner, as St. John poured it on until referee Jose Cobian stopped the bout at 1:46 of the first round. The crowd booed the stoppage, protesting that it was too early.

St. John, from Los Angeles, improves to 39-4-2, 16 KO's. Archuleta, from Denver, CO, drops to 4-10-1, 2 KO's

Maddalone beats on Smith!
-- Francisco Salazar

Heavyweight Vinny Maddalone was content to fight Ronnie Smith to a six round unanimous decision.

Both fighters either spent the bout holding and hitting or pawing at each other, waiting for either fighter to throw first. Smith was competitive, making Maddalone throw and both fighters did exchange hard shots against over one another.

All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Maddalone. Fightnews.com scored the bout 59-55 in favor of Maddalone.

Maddalone, from Queens, NY, improves to 22-2, 15 KO's. Smith, from Honolulu, HI, drops to 6-32, 6 KO's.

Notes:
- Faces in the crowd: Heavyweight Mike Tyson, Heavyweight contender James Toney, Super Middleweight champion Jeff Lacy, Junior Middleweight champion Winky Wright, Welterweight Vernon Forrest, rapper Ice-T, and Los Angeles Laker star Kobe Bryant. 

- Mike Tyson received the loudest cheers from the crowd as he walked inside STAPLES Center during the undercard. He sat behind and to the left of Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant.

- Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, Roy Jones, Jr., and Harold Lederman called the action for HBO World Championship Boxing.

- Ring announcer was Jim Lampley. Fox Sports Net anchor Barry LeBrock was the ring announcer for the undercard bouts.

- Jones is co-manager of Andre Ward, along with Dan Goossen.

Questions or Comments? Please e-mail Francisco Salazar and Whitfield Haydon

FOR PHOTO SALES, CONTACT CHRIS COZZONE

# # #

Bonus Pics!