"I feel great, man. I'm looking sharp. I feel fast. I feel strong. Everything is on the up and up and I'm ready to go rumble right now...I believe he's gonna try to move and create space and try to stay away. I don't think he's going to come in there rumbling and wanting to trade blows...I'm excited about the opportunity and it will be awesome, man. It will be a wonderful thing for my legacy and it will also be a treat for people over 30 to know that they can come in and compete and do the things we are capable of doing at this age. So I'm looking forward to it all the way around," stated former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson as he talked about his upcoming Super Six showdown with WBC super middleweight champoin Carl Froch this Saturday. Check out what he had to say about the fight, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr. an much more.
PC: How is everything going Glen, and how are you feeling for your big fight Saturday night against Carl Froch?
GJ: I feel great and everything is going well. I'm looking forward to the fight.
PC: It's not like the Allan Green fight, where you didn't have a significant amount of time to make 168 pounds. Your trainers are saying you look as strong as ever. How do you feel physically?
GJ: I feel great, man. I'm looking sharp. I feel fast. I feel strong. Everything is on the up and up and I'm ready to go rumble right now.
PC: We've seen two sides to Carl Froch; the guy that stood and banged it out against Mikkel Kessler and the guy that showed great movement and boxing skills against Arthur Abraham. Given your style, which Carl Froch are you expecting on Saturday night?
GJ: Well, I believe he's gonna try to move and create space and try to stay away. I don't think he's going to come in there rumbling and wanting to trade blows.
PC: You are known as the "Road Warrior", but was it somewhat of a victory for you, and important at the same time, to have this fight take place in the States?
GJ: Oh yeah, definitely! I get the short end of the stick here at home just the same, but it's always good to be boxing here in America because I'm boxing to show my skills to the American boxing fans. Overseas, not so much. You go over there just for the opportunities, but for the most part, they are not gonna see you again. The chances are very slim that you go into the same country a few times. Even when that happens, you go into a totally different area, so I would rather be here in the States fighting no matter what's happening at the end.
PC: I've been asked this question on a couple of radio shows that I have done, so I will ask you, have you given it any thought of how amazing it would be if you walked in and won this thing?
GJ: Oh yeah! I mean, I definitely gave it some thought and I look forward to doing it. I'm excited about the opportunity and it will be awesome, man. It will be a wonderful thing for my legacy and it will also be a treat for people over 30 to know that they can come in and compete and do the things we are capable of doing at this age. So I'm looking forward to it all the way around. It's excitement, not just for me, but for a lot of other people.
PC: I think one of the most amazing things about this entire journey is that you had no plans to compete at 168 again and had been out of the division for over a decade. It shows that you can achieve things when you put your mind to it, and you're making the best of this opportunity.
GJ: Exactly! Everybody can see what's on the outside of you, but nobody can tell what's on the inside of you and that's what I try my very best to pour out with effort, will and skill, and everything, so people can get a brief peak of what's going on inside of me. I am a very determined person and I don't believe in can't. I believe everything and anything is possible that's thrown before me. I just look forward to these challenges, man. I'm excited about the opportunity and I'm not letting it slip through my fingers.
PC: Bernard Hopkins seemed to give everyone over 40 hope with his brilliant performance against Jean Pascal. What did you think of the performance and Hopkins as an athlete in general?
GJ: For one, I'm extremely proud of Bernard. To be honest, Bernard was one of the guys who came up and even when he was world champion at 160, he would get treated like he was a foreigner. There was not a lot of love for him; even a lot of the major networks were not interested in him. He came up in that era where Roy Jones was clicking and most of the attention went in that direction. I'm very proud of him to stick with it and stay with it and wait for the dust to settle, and he stays at a high level in performance. I mean, to be the oldest man to ever do it shows you what you can do and what you can accomplish when you go about your skill and you go about your craft the right way and not just some fly by night type of thing where you're just doing everything off of athleticism. He went about his craft the right way.
PC: I wanted to get your thoughts on the other side of that coin as well because getting by with God-given talent and athleticism is what Roy Jones is kinda being labeled as now. His knockout losses are getting scarier and Floyd Mayweather Sr. told me he believed he should have retired after you knocked him out. What are your thoughts?
GJ: Listen, I see it that way as well. I feel like he's really started to diminish all that he has meant to us and the legacy that he created. I kinda feel the same way about Holyfield, a fighter that I love and one of my favorite fighters. These guys that are getting wins off of these guys now could not hold their jock strap a few years back. I don't know why they are still pursuing it. I don't want to speculate as far as money-wise or anything else. I just hope they are in a position where they can walk away and don't have to do this. And you know, all of these major networks, give them a job. Give them something they can do where they can still be in the spotlight and make them feel important where they don't have to do this anymore. I don't know if they are boxing because they can't leave the spotlight alone or whatever it is. I'm sure it is something, but Roy does a wonderful job with HBO. Let's hire some more of these guys so they can walk away and hopefully Roy does this here soon.
PC: It's hard not to root for you Champ. You are always a class act. I wish you the best of luck on Saturday night. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
GJ: I just want to say that I have the best fans in the world. People who support and cheer for Glen Johnson have to be the best and most loyal. In boxing, people walk away or run away as soon as you lose a few fights or as soon as your career looks like it is going into a downward spiral. Everybody jumps off of the bandwagon, but so many people have stuck with me throughout my career, and obviously I have had an up and down career, so I believe I have the best fans in the world.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]