Callum Johnson
Encyclopedia
Callum Johnson is a British professional boxer fighting in the light heavyweight category. He won gold whilst representing Scotland
at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
in Delhi. He turned professional following the tournament and is managed by former world champion Naseem Hamed
. He made his professional debut on 4 December 2010 beating Phillip Townley at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow.
in Glasgow
. For the 2010 Commonwealth Games
in Delhi he was made the captain of the Scottish boxing squad.
in Delhi. Picked at the 81kg Light heavyweight
category Johnson fought his way to the final beating the likes of Krystian Borucki of the Isle of Man
in his first bout, defeating British number one Obed Mbwakongo representing England
6-2 in the quarter finals and stopping Jermaine Asare of Wales in the semi's. In the final he claimed the gold medal with an 8-1 win over Northern Ireland's Thomas McCarthy. Speaking of his win Johnson said that he needed to keep his concentration following the attempts of his teammate Steve Simmons trying to play the Flower of Scotland
on a Vuvuzela
during the last 3 minutes of the fight. He said "I could hear Stevie, and, to be honest, in the last round I nearly started singing it myself...It was in my head - I was singing it in my head in the last 30 seconds. But you've got to keep focused, because it only takes one shot in this game."
and being managed by former world champion Prince Naseem Hamed. Speaking of signing professional forms Johnson said "It's fantastic to turn professional under Frank Warren who is the man to guide me to achieve my dream, to become world champion." The decision to join Warren's stable of boxers meant that Johnson joined the likes of other former Commonwealth Games gold medalists to have turned pro with Warren including Scotsman Alex Arthur
who won gold in 1998 and Stephen Smith
, Jamie Cox and Don Broadhurst
all of whom won gold in 2006. Speaking of his decision to go into boxing management Naseem Hamed claimed that boxing had become "downtrodden" Johnson would add a bit of "sparkle" to the sport saying "Callum Johnson is going to be the guy to put that in. He is going to be the best breath of fresh air boxing can have." He added "I think his first ten fights will be ten knockouts and he'll be world champion within three years." On 4 December 2010 Johnson made his professional debut at the Braehead Arena
in Glasgow boxing on the undercard of Ricky Burns
world title defence against Andreas Evenson. The fight against Phillip Townley was stopped in the second round, handing Townley his first stoppage defeat and a first win for Johnson. Speaking of the nature of the victory, Naseem Hamed said "This guy's got dynamite in his hands...I just feel that he is so explosive, so chilling. He throws his punches so correctly. That is one of the reasons I got involved with Callum Johnson."
His second fight took place on the 14th of march 2011, in which he faced Jody Meikle. The fight went on to the final stage and was won by points (40-35 to Callum). This marked his second victory in 2 professional fights, keeping his record as a 100% win.
|align="center" colspan=8|2 Win (1 knockout, 1 decisions, 0 disqualification), 0 Losses , 0 Draws, 0 No Contests
|-
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Round
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; width:40%; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Win
|1-0
|align=left| Phillip Townley
|TKO || 2
|04-12-2010 || align=left|
Braehead Arena
, Scotland
|align=left|
|-align=center
|-align=center
|Win
|2-0
|align=left|
Jody Meikle
|points || 4
|14-03-2011 || align=left| Braehead Arena
, Scotland
|align=center| 40-35 (referees decision)
|-align=center
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
2010 Commonwealth Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...
in Delhi. He turned professional following the tournament and is managed by former world champion Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed is an English former professional boxer.He is the former WBO, WBC, IBF, & Lineal featherweight champion, and European bantamweight champion....
. He made his professional debut on 4 December 2010 beating Phillip Townley at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow.
Amateur career
Callum began boxing at a local club in his home town of Boston from an early age but moved to train at Terry Allen Unique ABC in Lincoln by the time he was sixteen. He fought 40 times in international contests. In total Johnson boxed on 120 occasions as an amateur winning 95. Despite being English and living in Lincolnshire, Johnson boxed for Scotland for six years qualifying by way of his Grandmother who came from SpringburnSpringburn
Springburn is an inner city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, home to various working and middle-class households.Springburn developed from a small rural hamlet at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its industrial expansion began with the establishment of a chemical...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. For the 2010 Commonwealth Games
2010 Commonwealth Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...
in Delhi he was made the captain of the Scottish boxing squad.
Commonwealth Games
Johnson was part of the Scotland team to compete at the 2010 Commonwealth Games2010 Commonwealth Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...
in Delhi. Picked at the 81kg Light heavyweight
Boxing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games – Light heavyweight
The Super Heavyweight class is an even on the Boxing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games competition. Super Heavyweights were limited to those boxers weighing under 81 kilograms, 20 boxers will compete....
category Johnson fought his way to the final beating the likes of Krystian Borucki of the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
in his first bout, defeating British number one Obed Mbwakongo representing England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
6-2 in the quarter finals and stopping Jermaine Asare of Wales in the semi's. In the final he claimed the gold medal with an 8-1 win over Northern Ireland's Thomas McCarthy. Speaking of his win Johnson said that he needed to keep his concentration following the attempts of his teammate Steve Simmons trying to play the Flower of Scotland
Flower of Scotland
Flower of Scotland is a Scottish song, used frequently at special occasions and sporting events. Although there is no official national anthem of Scotland, Flower of Scotland is one of a number of songs which unofficially fulfil this role, along with the older Scots Wha Hae, Scotland the Brave...
on a Vuvuzela
Vuvuzela
The vuvuzela , also known as lepatata Mambu , colloquially known in South Africa as "Moerstripper", is a plastic horn, about long, which produces a loud monotone note, typically around B3 . Some models are made in two parts to facilitate storage, and this design also allows pitch variation...
during the last 3 minutes of the fight. He said "I could hear Stevie, and, to be honest, in the last round I nearly started singing it myself...It was in my head - I was singing it in my head in the last 30 seconds. But you've got to keep focused, because it only takes one shot in this game."
Professional career
After the Commonwealth Games Johnson made the decision to turn professional signing with promoter Frank WarrenFrank Warren (promoter)
Frank Darren Warren is an English boxing manager and promoter.-Early life and early career:The son of a bookmaker, Warren trained as a solicitor's clerk with J Tickle & Co on Southampton Row in London....
and being managed by former world champion Prince Naseem Hamed. Speaking of signing professional forms Johnson said "It's fantastic to turn professional under Frank Warren who is the man to guide me to achieve my dream, to become world champion." The decision to join Warren's stable of boxers meant that Johnson joined the likes of other former Commonwealth Games gold medalists to have turned pro with Warren including Scotsman Alex Arthur
Alex Arthur
Alex Arthur, nicknamed "Amazing" Alex Arthur, is a professional boxer from Edinburgh in Scotland.Arthur is a former British, Commonwealth, European Boxing Union and WBO super featherweight champion...
who won gold in 1998 and Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith (boxer)
Stephen Smith is a British professional boxer best known for being former British and Commonwealth Featherweight champion, and as an amateur won the featherweight division at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the 2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships...
, Jamie Cox and Don Broadhurst
Don Broadhurst
Don Broadhurst is an English professional boxer who competes in the Flyweight division. He hails from Birmingham and currently boxes for Frank Warrens Sports Network...
all of whom won gold in 2006. Speaking of his decision to go into boxing management Naseem Hamed claimed that boxing had become "downtrodden" Johnson would add a bit of "sparkle" to the sport saying "Callum Johnson is going to be the guy to put that in. He is going to be the best breath of fresh air boxing can have." He added "I think his first ten fights will be ten knockouts and he'll be world champion within three years." On 4 December 2010 Johnson made his professional debut at the Braehead Arena
Braehead Arena
The Braehead Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in the western part of the Glasgow conurbation. The arena was built in 1999, and is located within the Braehead Complex....
in Glasgow boxing on the undercard of Ricky Burns
Ricky Burns
Ricky Burns is a boxer from Coatbridge in Scotland who fights in the lightweight division and is currently the WBO interim lightweight champion of the world becoming only the 13th Scottish boxing world champion. He is also a former WBO Super-Featherweight champion, Commonwealth super featherweight...
world title defence against Andreas Evenson. The fight against Phillip Townley was stopped in the second round, handing Townley his first stoppage defeat and a first win for Johnson. Speaking of the nature of the victory, Naseem Hamed said "This guy's got dynamite in his hands...I just feel that he is so explosive, so chilling. He throws his punches so correctly. That is one of the reasons I got involved with Callum Johnson."
His second fight took place on the 14th of march 2011, in which he faced Jody Meikle. The fight went on to the final stage and was won by points (40-35 to Callum). This marked his second victory in 2 professional fights, keeping his record as a 100% win.
Professional boxing record
|-|align="center" colspan=8|2 Win (1 knockout, 1 decisions, 0 disqualification), 0 Losses , 0 Draws, 0 No Contests
|-
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Round
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; width:40%; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Win
|1-0
|align=left| Phillip Townley
|TKO || 2
|04-12-2010 || align=left|
Braehead ArenaBraehead Arena
The Braehead Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in the western part of the Glasgow conurbation. The arena was built in 1999, and is located within the Braehead Complex....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
|align=left|
|-align=center
|-align=center
|Win
|2-0
|align=left|
Jody Meikle|points || 4
|14-03-2011 || align=left|
Braehead ArenaBraehead Arena
The Braehead Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in the western part of the Glasgow conurbation. The arena was built in 1999, and is located within the Braehead Complex....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
|align=center| 40-35 (referees decision)
|-align=center