Glen Johnson on track to meet the 168lb limit

Former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson seems to have put to rest the widespread notion that he might have a problem making weight for his super middleweight fight with Allan Green on Saturday.

Johnson has been fighting at 175 pounds since his last fight in the 168-pound division in 2000. So when he accepted an invitation to replace Mikkel Kessler in late September in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, his weight was a concern.

But Johnson (50-14-2, 34 KOs) is virtually on weight already. According to co-promoter Lou DiBella, Johnson weighed 171 pounds on Wednesday and then was 169 on Friday after a training session in Miami.

Johnson faces Green (29-2, 20 KOs) in Group Stage 3 of the tournament at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Rafael Marquez featherweight title bout. Only the winner of Johnson-Green will advance to the semifinals.

Johnson replaced Kessler, who withdrew in late August because of an eye injury. Green, who had replaced Jermain Taylor earlier in the tournament, lost his only bout of the round robin, a lopsided decision to titleholder Andre Ward.

"We got a nutritionist who is telling us how to eat, and what we should be eating, and everything has been easy," said the 41-year-old Johnson, who is coming off a highly competitive points loss to light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud in August. "I feel great about the fight. I am looking forward to it. This is a great opportunity for me."

The last time Johnson fought as a super middleweight was Sept. 23, 2000, when he knocked out Toks Owoh in the sixth round. He weighed 166.25 pounds for that fight in London.

"For anyone concerned that Glen Johnson would have a weight problem, he weighed 171 over a week before the fight," DiBella said. "Most super middleweights would weigh more. Glen is a true professional, and he dropped the weight like a true professional. Two super middleweights will get in the ring on Nov. 6 in a high stakes battle."

There are serious penalties in Johnson's contract if he fails to make weight -- $30,000 per pound that he is overweight.

Ward has already earned enough points to advance to the semifinals. Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham, who meet for a vacant belt on Nov. 27 in Helsinki, Finland, have also already both advanced but will be vying not only for the belt, but the higher seed in the semifinals, which are due to take place in the first half of 2011.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5748987

It makes you wonder what he had to give up to get down that fast? Strength? Legs?

Rice and peas.

For a guy who re-hydrated to 193 in his last fight at 175, being almost on weight last Friday (a week from the weigh in) isn't a good thing. He may have killed his body to get down that low, and too soon.

Yeah, I'd hate see Johnson get hurt in this one; it's hard to see how he could drop all that weight so fast and not damage his body. That image of a drained Roy Jones getting KTFO comes to mind here.

Still, if he comes in healthy and ready to fight I like Johnson in this one.

Ali wrote:Rice and peas.

Jamaican jerk chicken