Finally...

Stevie Johnston of Denver, CO gets respect

It seems respect is coming the way of WBC lightweight Champion Stevie Johnston and rightfully so. Johnston has done everything asked of him, he continues to fight challengers on their home turf. His defensive skills against Angel Manfredy were expected to show the world he was just a fluke, like most others who came from Denver as  oddsmakers had the WBC Champion an underdog. 

Denver is a town of opponents not champions. When a promoter looks for a tomato can, he calls Denver. Had Johnston been fighting out of Detroit, Philadelphia or East Los Angeles respect would have been his a long time ago. Unfortunately this is not the case and Johnston will have to continue to fight an uphill battle to win the respect of the boxing officials.

However, the win over Manfredy was sweet. Johnston showed great ring generalship as he moved swiftly and "pugged" it out when he had to. His movement in the ring was enough to confuse Manfredy as he was unable to cut the ring and make Johnston stand flat footed. Manfredy confused even before he enters the ring, he is unable to decide if he will be the Devil or an Angel. A born again Christian representing the Devil in the ring go figure. Johnston able to land the right hook at will and soon into the fight was connecting with two, three punch combinations rather easily while Manfredy could seldom land two punches in combination. In the final rounds Manfredy outright showed his confusion as he switched and fought in a southpaw stance.

Still the issue of fighting out of Denver will hurt Johnston, you see Denver is in a state with no boxing commission. No governing body whatsoever therefore Denver and the state of Colorado will continue to be somewhat of a black eye to the boxing commission structure in the US. You may see Johnston acquire a Las Vegas address and list himself fighting out of Las Vegas in the near future. This could mean big respect by the boxing world and could translate into bigger prize money.  In the meantime Johnston will continue to win fights defending his championship title.

-Blackbull-