It's official, Sakio Bika turns down Super Six, Glen Johnson is now in the running

As soon as Showtime announced on Friday that it would replace injured Mikkel Kessler in the Super Six World Boxing Classic by finding a new opponent to face Allan Green in Group Stage 3, the speculation began: Who would get the spot?

Names such as Sakio Bika and Brian Magee were mentioned, but neither went very far and neither will be the replacement. Bika, for example, declined the fight, according to Green promoter Lou DiBella, because he was not prepared to go into a training camp after the recent death of his father.

Beltholders Robert Stieglitz and Dimitri Sartison were long shots and neither will be in. And you can forget Lucian Bute, the Canadian star titlist, who was ignored by Showtime when the tournament was first put together. Besides, Bute has other plans anyway, a mandatory defense against Jesse Brinkley that will pack the Bell Center in Montreal on Oct. 15. Bute's handlers aren't about to call that off to be in the tournament in which Bute, because of the fact he would enter with zero points, would need to knock out Green and have help from other results to advance to the semifinals.

So guess who has been approved as a possible entrant into the Super Six party? Former light heavyweight champ Glen Johnson.

It's an inspired idea.

If Johnson gets the nod, he would drop down to 168 pounds, a division in which he used to fight, but has not competed in since 2000.

Whomever comes aboard as Green's opponent, the fight likely will take place Nov. 6 on the network's undercard of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Rafael Marquez featherweight title bout, which was postponed from Sept. 18 because of Marquez's freak thumb injury (he slammed it in a car door).

When I heard about Johnson possibly getting the call a few days ago, I was intrigued. At the very least, Johnson is a credible fighter, even at age 41. He would be competitive with anyone at light heavyweight. Although he lost a decision in a title bout to Tavoris Cloud on Aug. 7, it was a highly competitive fight that many scored a draw.

I think it would be very interesting to see Johnson drop down to see if he can do any damage at 168, especially against Green, whose Super Six performance in a lopsided decision loss to titleholder Andre Ward in June bordered on pathetic.

Although Johnson would love a rematch with Cloud, he is excited about the possibility of joining the Super Six field with Ward, Green, Andre Dirrell, Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham.

"It is definitely something I would be interested in," Johnson told me over the phone on Monday.

Johnson said his manger, Henry Foster, had spoken to DiBella about the possibility. DiBella, who also promotes Green, has already had discussions about it with Showtime's Ken Hershman, who I am told likes the idea, especially when you consider the less interesting alternatives. If Showtime's not going to dump Green, eliminate Group Stage 3 and go right to the semifinals, as it strongly considered, adding Johnson is the best available alternative.

"I'll let them do what they do and see if it works out," Johnson said. "I spoke to Henry about it and he wanted to know what I thought and if I had interest. They said they'd get back to me. I don't know if it will happen, but I definitely have interest."

After Johnson (50-14-2, 34 KOs) lost a middleweight title fight to Bernard Hopkins in 1997 -- the only time Johnson has ever been stopped -- he moved up to super middleweight. Johnson fought in the division from 1997 through 2000, including getting robbed in a title shot against Sven Ottke in Germany in 1999.

Even 10 years since his last appearance at 168 pounds, Johnson said he would be able to make the weight.

"I definitely think I can make the weight," he said. "If you pay attention to my weigh-ins, I weigh like 172, 173 all the time. I stay in the low 170s, so I just have to lose an extra three or four pounds to get into the 168-pound division. I made light heavyweight fairly easy, so I wouldn't see a problem making that weight. Hard work is what I have done in my career. I'm not going to change that now. It's not like I'm getting a lot favors, so this would be a great opportunity for me if it should happen and I am looking forward to it. I'm excited. I'm trying to keep my composure. If it happens it will be a wonderful thing. We should know in a couple of days."

Johnson has already been in his usual South Florida gym helping Bute, who is training there, get ready for the fight with Brinkley. Johnson said even though he has not received an official invitation to the Super Six yet, he was going to start getting ready anyway just to be safe.

"I'm ready to go, man. All I need to do is hear the definite word," said Johnson, adding that he weighed 180 on Monday. "I'll start working on my weight right away and keep my ear to the phone waiting for the call. I am preparing like I got the word already."

Hopefully, that word will come.

http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/5622520/johnson-poised-replace-kessler-super-six?id=5622520&_slug_=johnson-poised-replace-kessler-super-six&name=rafael_dan&sort=oldest

So let me get this straight. The entire purpose of the tourney is to decide who the best 168 in the world is.

And the best available way to do this is to bring in a guy who hasn't fought in the division in a freaking DECADE???????????????

Why not Andrade or Stieglitz or Geale or Mendy?

marbleheadmaui wrote:

So let me get this straight. The entire purpose of the tourney is to decide who the best 168 in the world is.

And the best available way to do this is to bring in a guy who hasn't fought in the division in a freaking DECADE???????????????

Why not Andrade or Stieglitz or Geale or Mendy?

Promoters

marbleheadmaui wrote:

So let me get this straight. The entire purpose of the tourney is to decide who the best 168 in the world is.

And the best available way to do this is to bring in a guy who hasn't fought in the division in a freaking DECADE???????????????

Why not Andrade or Stieglitz or Geale or Mendy?

Andrade is quite happy making money in Canada, plus Kessler destroyed him years ago.

Stieglitz is another long line of European trinket milkers who're scared to venture outside their comfort zone, he turned down a Lucian Bute fight this year.

Daniel Geale is a middleweight.

Mendy was obliterated by Sakio Bika in July.

How does Johnson weigh 180 right now???? I swear he rehydrated to 193 (or around that) for the Cloud fight.

If you recall the fight his body looked a little soft for the Road Warrior (a remark made by myself and a couple of others after the weigh in pictures).

How is he getting to 168????

And as for Marble's point: So true, there is no point in having a guy who hasn't fought at 168 in 10 years.

marbleheadmaui wrote:

So let me get this straight. The entire purpose of the tourney is to decide who the best 168 in the world is.

And the best available way to do this is to bring in a guy who hasn't fought in the division in a freaking DECADE???????????????

Why not Andrade or Stieglitz or Geale or Mendy?

Marble is it time to say that Bika is scared of Allan Green? This is the second time he has turned down the fight with Green.

soonermark890 wrote:

Marble is it time to say that Bika is scared of Allan Green? This is the second time he has turned down the fight with Green.

No, did you not read the article? His dad just passed away

gomez1012 wrote:

soonermark890 wrote:

Marble is it time to say that Bika is scared of Allan Green? This is the second time he has turned down the fight with Green.

No, did you not read the article? His dad just passed away

How long ago did he die? I saw that part after I posted a second ago before I read your post

Idk but recent enough that he doesnt want to start a training camp

gomez1012 wrote:

Idk but recent enough that he doesnt want to start a training camp

That sucks.

If I'm Green I go to Germany to fight Stieglitz and go for a trinket and some more options if I win and don't make it to the next round.

Johnson is a terrible idea. I won't even watch that fight. If they can't get anyone worthwhile they need to just find a way to give Green a payday, a showcase fight, and a guarantee against one of the S6 losers or another marquee fight in the future.

A Green-Johnson fight ruins the credibility of the tournament.

Fargin'ridiculous....sure, GJ will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, but this is not the place. Green is terrible. Bika could beat Green with no camp.

flapanther2001 wrote:

Fargin'ridiculous....sure, GJ will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, but this is not the place. Green is terrible. Bika could beat Green with no camp.

Green would kill Bika. Bika is not Ward.

i think every 168 in the world just shit their pants when they found out the road warrior's in the tourney.
as far as bika goes well it's too bad. but maybe he should have used the passing of his father as inspiration like buster douglas did against tyson when his mother passed away. i can't knock him on it though.

soonermark890 wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:

Fargin'ridiculous....sure, GJ will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, but this is not the place. Green is terrible. Bika could beat Green with no camp.

Green would kill Bika. Bika is not Ward.

Bika doesn't have to be Ward to beat Green. He just has to stay busy. Green is done.

They should have just gone to the semi's like they said they would.

This officially has become a joke.

NJBeatdown86 wrote:

They should have just gone to the semi's like they said they would.

Yeah that's where I am as well.

Agreed on going straight to the semi's. Unless they (showtime) already ordered the "episodes" so to speak. If it's already paid for then I can understand them wanting to have more fights.

DIFFERENT SCENARIO:

Make the first two round fights 10 rounders with no "TITLES" at stake. Then once into the semi's go up to twelve rounds and put the trinkets on the line. There might have been less injuries and more exciting preliminary fights (save for Froch Dirrell they were good fights) with guys not being able to take the first six or so rounds off (Abraham).

Also, have alternates ready to go in the event of injuries. All they have to be are top 15 ranked guys. Have say four that are fighting in their own "tournament" of sorts, these being the undercards of the Super Six competitors. Guys like Andrade, Brinkly, Manfredo, Green, Bika etc. they cannot replace anyone after the second round unless they win their tournament and there is an injury to one of the main competitors. Their "tournament" would have to be over by the time the third round started.

flapanther2001 wrote:

soonermark890 wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:

Fargin'ridiculous....sure, GJ will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, but this is not the place. Green is terrible. Bika could beat Green with no camp.

Green would kill Bika. Bika is not Ward.

Bika doesn't have to be Ward to beat Green. He just has to stay busy. Green is done.

When did Bika become a good fighter? He has already turned down the Green fight once before this. I really wonder if he just knows he will lose.

captainanddew wrote:

How does Johnson weigh 180 right now???? I swear he rehydrated to 193 (or around that) for the Cloud fight.

If you recall the fight his body looked a little soft for the Road Warrior (a remark made by myself and a couple of others after the weigh in pictures).

How is he getting to 168????

And as for Marble's point: So true, there is no point in having a guy who hasn't fought at 168 in 10 years.

Liposuction?

Honestly - I really respect Johnson but bringing him at this point is a bad move for the whole tournament. Better to just drop Green completely as he clearly didn't show any desire to fight last time out. Cut it down and move on.

soonermark890 wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:

soonermark890 wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:

Fargin'ridiculous....sure, GJ will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, but this is not the place. Green is terrible. Bika could beat Green with no camp.

Green would kill Bika. Bika is not Ward.

Bika doesn't have to be Ward to beat Green. He just has to stay busy. Green is done.

When did Bika become a good fighter? He has already turned down the Green fight once before this. I really wonder if he just knows he will lose.

When did and who has Green beaten to be considered anything other than an opponent?

I think everyone liked the semifinals idea but Showtime had guaranteed the promoters 3 paydays plus the chance at semifinals. The promoters called them out on losing a payday. Now we have a chance that Green or someone else undeserving makes it in with a KO in a match of guys that couldn't compete with the other 4 in the tourney. I am no Dirrell fan but if he is out because Green KO's a bum or a SEVERELY weight-drained 41 year old, that would be a shame. Johnson is only going to have 6+ weeks notice to drop to a weight he hasn't fought at in a decade and have to do it at 41. That is a recipe for disaster.

hardcoreBEE24 wrote:

soonermark890 wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:

soonermark890 wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:

Fargin'ridiculous....sure, GJ will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, but this is not the place. Green is terrible. Bika could beat Green with no camp.

Green would kill Bika. Bika is not Ward.

Bika doesn't have to be Ward to beat Green. He just has to stay busy. Green is done.

When did Bika become a good fighter? He has already turned down the Green fight once before this. I really wonder if he just knows he will lose.

When did and who has Green beaten to be considered anything other than an opponent?

Since he had the KO of the year. Bika is just not that good. Even Green would kill Bika. Didnt he just lose a fight anyways? I mean come on anyone who married that vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv.

UBeeg9cats wrote:

I think everyone liked the semifinals idea but Showtime had guaranteed the promoters 3 paydays plus the chance at semifinals. The promoters called them out on losing a payday. Now we have a chance that Green or someone else undeserving makes it in with a KO in a match of guys that couldn't compete with the other 4 in the tourney. I am no Dirrell fan but if he is out because Green KO's a bum or a SEVERELY weight-drained 41 year old, that would be a shame. Johnson is only going to have 6+ weeks notice to drop to a weight he hasn't fought at in a decade and have to do it at 41. That is a recipe for disaster.

The best senario I can think of is this.
Green gets to fight someone and KO's them. Dirrell is out Green is in. Green KO's Ward and then KO's Froch in the final. Green wins the Super Six and is the champ. Then I get to yell FACE!!! to everyone who is bashing the greatest Allan Green.