Barely 24 hours after being told he?d be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, former 112- and 115-pound titleholder Mark ?Too Sharp? Johnson stood in a city government building in his hometown of Washington, D.C.
Those who had gathered were there for an event in advance of Saturday?s fight card featuring three local boxers ? Anthony and Lamont Peterson, both of D.C., and Seth Mitchell, of Brandywine, Md.
But they also paid tribute to one of the true great area fighters, Johnson, who left the sport in 2006 with a record of 44-5 with 28 knockouts and one no contest.
Johnson, 40, who now works for the city in a role that sees him mediating between gangs, visiting the homes of kids who are not going to school, doing referrals for court visits, and working a youth program out of a boxing gym in Southeast D.C.
Johnson spoke with David Greisman of BoxingScene.com and Lem Satterfield of RingTV.com.
ON WHERE HE WAS WHEN HE FOUND OUT:
?I was at home, and at 12 o?clock I was all over the Internet. Then I happened to call up the Hall of Fame. I was like, ?Well, y?all said 12 o?clock,? so I was an hour early. It was at 1. ? I was pacing. It was like the week of a fight. This week seemed like it was the longest week of your life, because you preparing for something that nobody can take away from you.
ON WHETHER HE EXPECTED TO BE INDUCTED:
?I felt like this: When [boxing manager] Cameron Dunkin came on MaxBoxing with Steve Kim, and he said that he?s the reason why I?m not a millionaire, because he didn?t let Danny Romero fight me, Johnny Tapia fight me, guys like Michael Carbajal. I said, well, ?They know it?s not me that didn?t want to make the fights.? But when Cameron Dunkin said he made all those guys stay away from me, Romero and Tapia, I said, ?Well, okay, that was the only thing I was thinking that may hold me back, which was the opponents.?
?However, I was calling all them out. Nobody never called me out, so that tell you a lot. Me and Marvin Hagler and Aaron Pryor, nobody never called us out.?
ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT COMING THE WEEK OF A BIG FIGHT IN D.C.:
?I think it?s a perfect fit. It?s like a puzzle. Most importantly, I was with Freddie [Roach] last night, and then you gonna have Michael Buffer come in this week, so you got three ? Hall of Famers that?s going to be in D.C., not to mention it?s in my hometown, and finally I can get the respect again from the boxing world. It?ll be even better if Lamont can beat Amir Khan and we can bring boxing back to the city.?
