JOHNSTON: YESTERDAY’S NEWS OR LEGITIMATE CONTENDER?

By Moncayo Blackbull 

DENVER (IB-April 23, 2007) - Stevie Johnston once the pride of Colorado and former world champion has been on the comeback trail in boxing in hopes of landing an opportunity to big money. Johnston, a Denver native and graduate of Manual High School, started his boxing career in 1993 and went on to become world champion on March 1, 1997 when he defeated Jean Baptiste Mendy.

Johnston’s reign as world champion lasted over three years, losing the tile by a majority decision to Jose Luis Castillo on June 17, 2000 at the Bicycle Club, Bell Gardens, California.

This loss was most upsetting to Johnston and all his fans, especially since it was coming off the heels of Johnston’s outstanding performance at home against Julio Alvarez. Johnston stopped Alvarez in round two in front of a sold out crowd at DU’s Magness Arena.

An immediate rematch was made with Castillo, this time the fight being held in Denver at the Pepsi Center. With a respectable crowd on hand, the several thousand fans witnessed a great fight with a bizarre conclusion. While on the air (ESPN) The ring announcer awards the victory to Johnston by majority decision and the celebrations begin for Johnston fans.  Several minutes later, with ESPN off air, an error was discovered in the tallying of one of the judges scorecards. The decision was changed and the fight ruled a draw with Castillo retaining his title.

Johnston continued to fight but battled with personal issues outside the ring and never got another shot at the championship.

On September 13, 2003, Johnston was soundly defeated by Juan Lazcano and stopped in the 11^th round. Not a good performance by Johnston and one could see a great career had come to an end.

Soon thereafter Johnston leaves Denver and moves to Florida.

After a 2 year hiatus Johnston returns to the ring. Silverhawk Championship Boxing breathes new hope into the former champion by signing Johnston to a promotional contract. Initial talks began in matching Johnston with up-and-coming Donald Camarena in a “Homecoming” fight in Colorado. The idea was short lived when Johnston handlers decided the five time champion Camarena was too much for his first comeback contest. Johnston went on to fight James Crayton whom he had previously beaten. Johnston continued his comeback by fighting carefully selected opponents Vladimir Khodokovski (11-8-2), Steve Quinonez (31-9-1) and Robert Ortega (18-16-1).

Four fights into his comeback, Johnston’s handlers felt he was ready for the big time and matched Johnston up against world ranked Vivian Harris. Johnston failed the test miserably being knocked down twice in round 1 and again in rounds 4 and 7 before the contest was stopped in favor of Harris.

What’s a promoter going to do now? Take a bath on their investment with Johnston and move on with other fighters or continue in rebuilding and gamble you will land a significant bout making good on your venture?

With excuses a dime a dozen, it did not take long for one to be found. “140 lbs. is too heavy for Stevie” is what we heard for the inferior performance against Harris.

So I guess we’ll see Johnston fight at the 135 lbs weight limit from here on out. I wonder what would happen if Ricky Hatton’s people offered Johnston a hundred grand for a fight at super light weight… just thinking out loud.

Johnston did have a fight at 135lbs. since the loss to Harris and that was to another Harris, journeyman Tyrone (18-2). Johnston managed to pull out a majority decision in 12 rounds.

Silverhawk Championship Boxing recently announced a May 18 boxing event featuring former champion Stevie Johnston at the Broomfield Events Center, Broomfield, Colorado. I can see the logic behind Johnston fighting back in Colorado, if Johnston can draw as he did in the past then maybe a return on the investment can begin.

Unfortunately that’s a big “if”, Johnston’s announced opponent is Luis Ernesto Jose from the Dominican Republic. Jose is listed on boxrec.com to have a ring record of 27 wins 4 losses and 2 draws, however only 1 of the thirty-three fights is a verified contest. Looking a little closer at Jose’s boxrec listed record, you will see that out of his last ten contests, 5 of the opponents had not ever won a fight and 4 of them had not even fought before! Jose won 9 out of his last ten contests and you can easily see why. The sole loss in his last ten contests was to an opponent with a 2-3 record.

What’s really going on here, a legitimate fight for Johnston or a please the crowd contest.

You can fool some of the public some of the time but it’s tough to fool the major media. As evident at the press conference announcing the return of Johnston, no major media present. With Colorado sports media dealing with justifiable sports news such as the Nuggets in the playoffs, the Colorado Rockies starting season, the Mammoth making the playoffs, the Denver Broncos upping and making shocking changes to the roster and the Rapids going into season why would major news outlets waste precious time on insignificant boxing events.

Johnston may indeed be a legitimate contender in the lightweight division but it won’t be proven in this contest.