37-year-old English light heavyweight Callum Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs), almost 12 years after his debut as a pro, hung up his gloves on a nail, as he announced in his
Facebook. The Briton hasn’t been able to get proper fights for a long time (only five appearances in the ring in the last six years).
In the fall of 2018, he lost to Artur Beterbiev for the IBF world title. Kadyrovsky’s protégé frightened his fans by going to the canvas in the 2nd three-minute period, but eventually knocked out Johnson in the 4th round. The British coach told why Johnson failed to finish off Beterbiev then.
After that fuckup, Callum crushed Sean Monaghan five months later. In the spring of 2021, Johnson resumed his career, knocked out Emil Markic and forcefully passed Server Emurlaev – this was his last performance.
“The days of boxing are over, not by choice or on my terms, but rather by a lack of self-discipline to fight and deal with my own mental issues and demons. I tried and I tried again but kept failing. I let down a lot of people, especially this year, and I’m sorry, I never wanted it to end this way,” he wrote.
I slowed down after Beterbiev’s knockdown, I won’t do it again – Johnson
At the beginning of 2022, Callum had another chance to fight for the world, but Joe Smith was left without an opponent in the days before the defense: Johnson was found to have an omicron. But at the beginning of 2020, he turned over a tire for almost 5 hours to raise money for doctors.
“At this point I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life and I need time to process the fact that this is the end of this part and the only part of life I’ve ever known. I would like it to end differently, but, like many things in life, it is as it is, ”Callum summed up in a minor way.
Beterbiev vs Johnson Highlights Video by vRINGe
