As Showtime?s ?Super Six? was disintegrating this past fall with the rather dubious pull-outs of Mikkel Kessler and Andre Dirrell, a call was made to the bullpen to bring in Glen Johnson and have him face Allan Green last November. There was one problem; for the better part of this last decade, Johnson had campaigned as a world-class light heavyweight. He hadn?t fought at super middleweight since September of 2000, when he stopped Toks Owoh in six rounds in London, England.
There was a question if Johnson would be willing to make this move at age 41 (at the time). The reality was, with his options dwindling at light heavyweight, he didn?t have much of a choice.
“There was no hesitation,” Johnson stated to Maxboxing last week, “simply because I got an offer. I actually got two offers for fights at 168 and I turned both of them down but the last one that came my way, I said, ?Y? know, I already finished fighting all the fighters in the light heavyweight division. I mean, there?s nobody really left for me to fight, so I really need to consider this super middleweight thing seriously.”
So, Johnson began the process of downsizing.
“So I went and saw a nutritionist to find out if there?s any way I could go back down to that weight- and she told me yes. I could make that weight, so I was already considering going down to super middleweight,? he said. ?So when I got a phone call about joining the ?Super Six,? I jumped all over it just because I had already checked it out and had that information in my head because before that, I turned down two great fights, simply because I didn?t think I?d be able to make it. But that also attracted me to find out if I could, so I thought everything just kinda worked right on time. It was just perfect timing.”
On the night of November 6th last year, Johnson impressively halted Green in eight rounds to earn a berth in the semifinals of the ?Super Six? against Carl Froch this Saturday night (Showtime 9 PM, ET/PT) in Atlantic City.
“I felt great; I absolutely felt great,” he said of that night. “I felt energized; I felt better, stronger, faster, more energetic. Everything was better- everything.”
As far as his manager, Henry Foster, was concerned, this is where Johnson belonged all along. After finally capturing the vacant IBF light heavyweight belt in February of 2004, Foster says, “[Joe] Calzaghe?s sitting there at ringside and I was ready to cut a deal to fight him at ?68.”
However, as that fight went by the wayside, Johnson eventually got a crack at Roy Jones in September of that year, helping him launch an extremely productive run at 175. Throughout all, the manager always believed his boxer was a natural super middle but as always, since they are the ones making the ultimate sacrifice, they have the final say. “The thing is, I realized there were scientific methods for working on this and if you have plenty of time, you can pretty much achieve whatever weight goals you want but Glen just automatically equated it with starvation, one, and two, with the concept of being weak, depleted, because of having to make weight,” said Foster.
“Admittedly, I didn?t have much experience with nutritionists or anything like that but I wanted to explore it and [Johnson] was dead-set against it. This time, of course, in order to participate in the tournament, he just went along with anything I suggested that would put us in the right direction.”
As for moving down earlier, Johnson says, “Well, Henry had been telling me for awhile, he thought we should try and make ?68 because he believed there were some great fights there and good opportunities. But for me, I was struggling to make 175 and I was doing it myself. I didn?t have a nutritionist and all of that, so I just didn?t see any way how I could do anything else to get my weight down. So I just kinda pushed it to the side but like I said, when I ran out of options at light heavyweight, I said, ?Let me get some professional help,? and that?s when she came into play and once I got the word that I could, if I follow strict instructions, I said, ?OK, then that?s the way we?ll go.? Should I have gone to super middleweight before now? I don?t think so. I think the timing is perfect; the opportunity is perfect. Everything happens for a reason and it happened at the right time.”
?She? would be Unni Greene, who runs SoMi Fitness in Miami, a private training facility with her partner William Del Sol. They were put in touch through various colleagues at the Thump Fight Gym, where Johnson does his daily work.
It was her job to oversee the diet and nutrition as Johnson went down in weight.
“I saw a guy who was in good shape, obviously. He had been training; he had always been able to get to where he wanted to be but my biggest concern was the time. I was very limited in time but what I saw in him was a huge commitment, which almost took me aback,” said Greene, who has a wide ranging clientele, from pro athletes to fitness models, celebrities, children, senior citizens and everything in between. “You see a lot of athletes and they kind of say, ?Yeah, yeah, yeah, I?ll do it,? and then they?re not going to really do it and you can see that they?re not. They have their own ideas and they tell you, ?I?m going to listen to you,? and they come back in a week and you know they didn?t do what they?re supposed to do. But with him, I saw immediately that he was sort of looking for the key, ?Here?s the missing piece and I want it.? He wanted it and I think that?s huge. You gotta want it and that?s what I saw in him.
“And he?s in really good shape always, for his age. Even though he was heavier then he wanted to be or where he was supposed to be for the ?Super Six?, he was in really good shape, which also makes me very positive that he could do it.”
Greene implemented a diet that has Johnson eating five meals a day, instead of the traditional three. It?s a much more fuel-efficient way of putting nutrients into the system throughout training camp.
“It?s totally scientifically-based and we?ve kind of adapted it from any type of sports nutrition, where traditionally, boxers just deplete and they just weigh themselves and it?s really calories and it?s not nutrition-dense food,? Greene detailed. ?What I did was I wanted him to start burning because, remember: he really didn?t have a lot of fat, so I didn?t want him to just drop in weight. I wanted to keep his muscle and he?s actually added, since I met Glen- he?s lighter but he?s added seven to eight pounds of muscle- and lost a significant amount of fat. But the nutrition helped him and me in getting there.”
Greene?s plan is very precise in the timing of the meals and the portions. It is tailored to work with the sessions that Johnson does with his boxing coach, Orlando Cuellar, and his strength-and-conditioning guru, Steve Aringtock.
“Eating spread out is vastly different than just cutting calories and eating three times a day,” said the architect of Johnson?s diet. “[Johnson] told me that he felt stronger than ever when he went into the fight against Green because he wasn?t so depleted. He was light but he was lean. He wasn?t light in muscle; he ate breakfast the day of the weigh-in.”
And even though Johnson was cutting down in poundage, carbohydrates were not excluded from the diet.
“He has to have carbs; it?s got kind of a bad rap but for him, it?s just managing the carbs and making sure- and again, I?m sure you?ve heard this a million times- the complex carbs, the good carbs in the morning. If I would deplete him of carbs, he would just not work out, couldn?t train. He would lose so much of his strength. So I do give him carbs,” said Greene. “Even now, he?s eating carbs. He?s ten days out; he?s still eating carbs. I just do it very, very scientifically. I literally micromanage every gram. It?s a break down; he?s was getting a lot of protein in the beginning because I wanted to build his muscle and I did cut his carbs in the evening. So like now, he?s coming closer; we really want him super lean. He?s cutting carbs in the evening. He?s still getting really good carbs in the morning; like four times during the day, he?s getting carbs; which is great. He has the energy to work out and still do everything.”
The traditional methods of making weight in boxing have consisted of basically eating once or twice a day, running more miles as the fight gets closer, wearing rubber body suits and the use of saunas- all this after boxers pack on the pounds between bouts. This whole process alarms Greene.
“It?s absolutely the most horrifying thing,” she states. “It?s like, ?Don?t do it!? I mean, I literally, after Glen?s last fight, it was so hard for him to understand because he said to me, ?Oh, it?s Christmas and I?m going to eat-? no, you?re not. ?Why not? I?m going to lose it. I lost it before.? I told him, ?Every time you gain it back, it gets harder to lose it.? The ?Yo-yo Diet,? he didn?t want to hear it, so he did put on a few pounds.”
She points out that it?s actually counterproductive to be at too low of a body fat all the time. Even after the weigh-in on Friday afternoon, all the way until Johnson and his team leave for the arena, every meal eaten by him will be Unni-approved.
The irony is, in fighting at a smaller weight class, Johnson say he is consuming more.
“It?s definitely not eating less; I?m eating more now than when I was doing it myself and making light heavyweight. I am eating healthier and I?m not eating as tasty as I was prior,” he said, laughing, “but otherwise, it?s healthier. I?m eating more food. I?m eating more often; I?m eating five times a day. Before, when I was doing it myself, I was eating three times a day.”
Greene plans out every meal, days and week in advance- and with Johnson, she has someone who is a creature of habit. “If he can tolerate eating the same thing over and over, I?m super happy because it makes my life easier. It?s the nutrients that I care about and the composition- so it would be the breakdown, the percentage of protein, fat and carbs. Glen is the kind of guy that he likes routine. He likes to know what he?s doing. So for him, I say, ?What do you want to eat this week?? He?s like, ?I?m perfectly happy with what I?m eating,? and so I just manage his portions or the timing, like, ?You?re going to have six-ounces of tuna at 12 instead of at four.? That kind of thing. But he doesn?t require a lot of variety.
“I?ve changed the diet where I?ve gotten calls, ?Can you please just give him what he had last week?? because he just doesn?t like a lot of variety, which is great. It makes my job easier.”
Being based out of the 305, Johnson didn?t necessarily hook up with Ponce de Leon but he feels with Greene?s guidance, he has gulped from the Fountain of Youth.
“Exactly,” he said. “Those were my exact words.”
THE U-NNI
Greene has an interesting background. Coming from Sweden, where she was a figure skater, she eventually came to the United States in 1982 and attended the University of Miami (so you could say it?s all about the ?U-nni?) where she actually graduated with a degree in finance in 1986. The mother of four put in her time working in finance and managing a law firm but her true passion and calling is the world of physical fitness, sports nutrition and conditioning.
Greene earned her degree in sports medicine and training in 2004, along with her certificate in sports nutrition. Her next move is to get into physical therapy, which will be her next certification.
Greene is very clear about one point; no matter how hard you workout, it?s only as good as your diet and what you put into your body on a consistent basis. It?s a synergy that can?t be overlooked.
“I would say that nutrition is even more important. It is because you can?t out-train your diet,” she says. “You can spend five, six hours a day in the gym but if you?re eating wrong, you?re not going to get the results; you?re not going to see what you could see. I say train smarter, not harder, but the component that is really critical is what people put in their bodies. It?s just huge. So you can?t understate it.”
WEIGHT
Greene monitors Johnson?s weight twice a week. She says of the fighter?s work ethic, in comparison to her other clients, “We have an insider joke: ?We wish everyone was like Glen.?” Last week, as we spoke to Johnson, he said he was already in the low 170s. Here?s a look at the last time Greene checked up on Johnson:
ARREOLA
Speaking of physical fitness, I think the mid-230s is an ideal weight for Chris Arreola, who kept up his busy schedule by stopping Kendrick Releford in seven rounds this past Friday night in Reno, Nevada. It?s natural for heavyweights to be a bit bigger than they were as they began their careers. At age 30, Arreola probably doesn?t need to be any lighter. The shame is that he probably should?ve been in this range all along but hey, like Johnson, it?s only when fighters have to really buckle down or run out of options that they do things they may not necessarily want to.
I think the one thing that needs to be improved on with ?The Nightmare? is the way he throws his right hand from a distance. He seems to always lunge with it and loses his balance over his front side because he doesn?t really step with his jab, bringing his back foot with him. Back in the old days, guys who had a technical flaw like this would be made to work the heavy-bag for days at a time, where they just worked on the same punch or sequence of punches over and over again till they corrected that flaw.
Regardless, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers and Jerry Quarry aren?t walking through that door and if Arreola can keep his weight in check (which seems to go up or down, depending on how much money he has in the bank) in this era of heavyweight boxing, he is a top ten guy.
FINAL FLURRIES
I think there?s a good chance that Arreola might be added to the July 9th show featuring the return of Paul Williams in Atlantic City, making it four fights in seven months, which is just what the doctor ordered for that guy…Saw the last four bouts of Sebastian Zbik, who faces Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on June 4th. At times, he can be called ?ZZZZZZZZbik? as he likes to box and counterpunch from the outside and absolutely hates to work on the inside…Jorge Linares defeated Adrian Verdugo in seven rounds in Mexico on Saturday. I still haven?t given up on this guy. I think he has loads of ability…For more info on Greene?s company, you can log onto www.SoMiFitness.com…Well, Zab Judah and Amir Khan at least put on a great fight…on Twitter. Yeah, not exactly the same thing, is it?…ESPN Classic showed ?Hoop Dreams? on Saturday night. To me, that was a masterpiece that I will never get sick of seeing. To see the struggle and perseverance of the Agee and Gates families is inspirational and the hard-earned maturity and cynicism that both Arthur and William gained throughout this process is striking. In the age of ?reality TV? and 24/7-coverage, when you see things of this nature nowadays, the more you see of the subjects, the less you like. With ?Hoop Dreams,? it?s just the opposite; you actually care more about them and their families. Whatever flaws they may have had, you get the sense these were good people trying to do the right thing, all along. To this day, I still look for updates on Agee and Gates. It?s one of the most compelling pieces of work I have ever encountered. This isn?t about basketball; this is about American life. My favorite line is when William says, “People always ask me, ?When you make it, will you remember me?? I say, ?If I don?t, will you remember me??” It?s among the most poignant lines I have ever heard. Kudos to the trio of Steve James, Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert for this classic slice of Americana…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
