Glen Johnson and Promoters Say Bute Low-Balled Offer for Nov. 5 Fight
by Scott Christ on Aug 12, 2011 6:02 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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We might not see Lucian Bute face Glen Johnson on November 5 after all. With Kelly Pavlik out of the running and a catchweight fight with Tavoris Cloud ruled out, veteran Johnson appeared to be the leading candidate to face Bute on Showtime in Montreal. But Johnson and his promoters say that Bute's team has sent them a low-ball offer for a fight, and they believe that they're trying to avoid the 42-year-old known as "The Road Warrior."
Here's what Johnson said:
"Bute is my friend and helluva a nice guy, but I believe that they're low-balling me very badly, mainly because they don't want the fight to happen. So, a way to get out is to try to low-ball where they think we won't accept it, instead of saying 'we don't want to fight Glen Johnson.' I've been around long enough to know when somebody's serious about an offer and I believe the fighter himself wants to compete but the promoter is afraid of stepping him up a level. They want to keep him safe. They don't have the confidence in him they should have. He's a good fighter. He should have a great fight and maybe he wins and maybe he loses, but he's ready for that fight."
Johnson's co-promoters, Leon Margules and Lou DiBella, echoed the statement, with DiBella calling the offer "unacceptable," and Margules saying, "Glen got the better of him in sparring and they're spooked."
If Bute doesn't fight Glen Johnson on November 5, then the options are pretty limited as far as super middleweights who could possibly make for an intriguing battle. Bute, whose talent and style are both well-respected, has taken criticism for not stepping up his competition to a consistently world class level. It's a criticism which might be lessened were it not for the fact that so many other top super middleweights have been taking hard fight after hard fight in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. (Of course, the existence of the Super Six has made world class opposition hard for Bute to find even if he wanted to.)
Peter Quillin has already turned down the idea, as he's focusing on a run at middleweight. Pavlik is out. Mikkel Kessler will be fighting Robert Stieglitz at some point, so neither of those guys are options. Thomas Oosthuizen is fighting on September 3 against Aaron Pryor Jr on the Zaveck vs Berto card. Arthur Abraham is ice cold and headed back to 160 on November 5 in Germany.
So who can Lucian Bute look to fight if Glen Johnson isn't the opponent? Andre Dirrell is not going to step right back into a big fight like that, despite his readiness to return to the ring. Andre's brother Anthony could be an option, I guess, but he isn't near being a true contender. That goes for pretty much anyone else out there -- guys like Edwin Rodriguez, Jesus Gonzales, Dyah Davis, and so on. James DeGale is fighting Piotr Wilczewski for the European title. George Groves isn't going to take that big a step up.
There's really just nobody at 168 right now to fight that Bute will get much credit for. The only other top ten sort of guy who might be available is Sakio Bika, and Bute beat him back in 2007.
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I’m curious to know how much they are “lowballing” Johnson. At his age, and coming off a loss, Glen can’t be turning world title fights.
This is his big chance, and if he wins, he would make bank on the rematch.
Johnson will have other options at 168 or 175, though. He always finds fights. Maybe even Tarver at cruiserweight.
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by Scott Christ on Aug 12, 2011 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions
No offense to Mr. Johnson but...
It would be cool for a guy coming off a loss to sometimes go, “Well, they low balled me telling me they’re scared, but I am going to take the fight because I deserve to take big fights at this stage of my career against top opponents and I think I can win.”
I've given Bute a lot of the benefit of the doubt
But at this point, I think his team is just overprotecting him. With all of the information that’s come out, it does seem that they’ve low-balled quite a few decent opponents, and the fact of the matter is that he needs to fight one at this point. The Super Six is almost over, and now he has opponents available. The excuse that they’ve all been tied up no longer flies.
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I want to see what this low ball offer actually is. johnson isn’t worth a big sum. What did Johnson get paid for fighting Allan Green, Tavoris Cloud etc.? I don’t really see how people are thinking his team is protecting him. Please explain that.
Acquire all of that information, and I’d recommend starting a blog of your own. We’re all guessing here, based on Bute being a somewhat protected fighter, and Glen Johnson almost never turning down a fight. Track record is a decent basis for such guesses.
by El Destruyo on Aug 12, 2011 11:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Yup, Bute really needs to step it up and so far it’s only been smoke screens. In this case, the benefit of the doubt goes to Johnson.
Bob Arum would promote Lucifer himself if he could put asses in the seats.
But title opportunities don’t come every day for a guys over 40 and coming off a loss.
I’m just waiting for the inevitable Bute camp reply that Johnson is “overpricing” himself.
I dunno, I mean Johnson’s loss are in the double digits and he still gets fights. People respect him and I think he will have other options. Maybe not title options, but decent money fights, which may be what he wants at this stage in his life.
Bob Arum would promote Lucifer himself if he could put asses in the seats.
I agree, and I find it really interesting. The “paper” Johnson really doesn’t bear much resemblance to the “real” Johnson.
Aside from the fact that I think he’s essentially impossible to dislike as a person, he’s remained a truly solid fighter his entire career, and I can’t really think of another fighter who’s racked up quite the record of debatable losses/robberies that he has. Yet, he never whines; he just goes back to work.
I think he’s a talented, respectable, consummate professional.
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