British & Commonwealth champion Callum Johnson ‘not phased’ by Beterbiev challenge:
By Thomas Lyons
For some fighters, big opportunities don’t come round too often, and when they do, it’s all about taking calculated risks that produce huge rewards. Having earned everything so far in his career the hard way, newly crowned British champion Callum ‘The One’ Johnson (17-0, 12 KOs) told me what it meant for him to beat Frank Buglioni to add the coveted Lonsdale belt to his collection, accompanied by the Commonwealth belt too.
After an absence of 18 months from the ring, very few predicted Johnson to pull off a win against Buglioni. The Lincolnshire man had to cope with the loss of his father who was instrumental in guiding Johnson from winning Commonwealth Gold at the 2010 Dehli Games right through to the professional ranks. The 32-year-old dedicated the victory to his dad and explained what it would have meant to him to see his son triumph against all odds.
“If I could lift that world title one day it will mean everything to be able to look to the sky and say “baby we did it.”
Many would argue that the next logical step would be to move onto European honours before targeting fringe world level, but the 32-year old firmly believes he has what it takes to become a world champion and is excited about the challenge ahead, against arguably the biggest puncher in the light-heavyweight division, Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) for the IBF title. Johnson himself has demonstrated the dynamite he carries in both hands and believes he has the power to hurt anyone across the ring from him.
To start off with, I asked Callum about his amateur career and his biggest achievement, winning a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Dehli, representing Scotland.
Since winning the Commonwealth Games Gold medal, are you satisfied with how your career has unfolded?
Callum replied “I’m happy with where I am at the moment in my career. To be totally honest, I’m not satisfied with how long it’s taken. But it is what it is and I just look at the positives and the future.”
Secondly, what did it mean to you to win the British title, defeating Buglioni in such emphatic fashion?
“It meant a lot to win the British and add it to my Commonwealth title. It didn’t matter who it was against, it was nice to finally show my ability and the capabilities I have.”
Since signing with Matchroom, Johnson has taken full advantage of a huge platform that enabled him to showcase his skills and raise his stock in the light heavyweight division, both domestically and on the world stage.
“The Buglioni fight has raised my profile a bit and I think it also helped with the way I won. It was an exciting destruction of a good solid, tough fighter.” Johnson continued by saying, “I have been given a lot of credit for the performance and I think people know I’m a genuine threat to the division.”
Moving onto the prospect of fighting Beterbiev for the IBF world title, I asked Johnson: how long it took for him, his trainer Joe Gallagher and the rest of the team to agree to the fight, and what pros and cons come with taking a fight of this magnitude?
“It took me about half a second to decide. I don’t see any cons at all, only pros. I have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. At the end of the day, I just want the biggest fights for the most money possible.”
Moreover, what chinks do you see in Beterbiev’s arsenal that you will be looking to exploit?
“It’s hard to see flaws in him, he is a great fighter, arguably the best in the division. But I do believe I have the power to hurt anyone and it makes for a great fight.”
With a huge fight that took place across the pond between Badou Jack and Adonis Stevenson last weekend, that ended in a draw, I asked Callum to give his verdict on the eagerly anticipated clash, “I was sitting on the fence, to be honest, but was half fancying Jack to get the win.” After Stevenson landed a well-timed body shot in the tenth round, the fight swung in the balance, with the WBC champion closing out the fight strongly.
All the talk since the British light-heavyweight scene has lightened up has been about two promising young talents, Anthony Yarde and Joshua Buatsi. Johnson says ‘the division is thriving and that both fighters have looked great so far.’
Both prospects have been tipped to go all the way by their respective promoters and have remained undefeated. Yarde was in a similar position to his fellow rival Johnson but his team decided he wasn’t ready for the step up this soon, while Johnson jumped at the opportunity.
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