Former Light Heavyweight champion had a short lived retirement as he is coming back to face undefeated British Super Middleweight George Groves on December 15th in London according to Dan Rafael of espn.com
“I was quitting on myself when I made that announcement,” Johnson told ESPN.com. “When I made the announcement, I felt like it was legitimate announcement. But I’ve felt good the past few months and I was quitting on myself based on my personal issues I was going through.
“I feel differently now. I would love an opportunity to see if I can still fight the way I feel like I can. If I don’t step in the ring and give it a shot I won’t know, so I want to step in the ring and give it a shot.”
“It’s a very tough fight for George,” said Groves promoter Frank Warren. “Johnson has been around, seen it and done it in a near 20-year career so he’ll have bags of experience compared to George. But George is young, fresh, talented and hungry and really wants to prove that he’s the next world champion in waiting. I think that the fans will be for a cracking fight between these two.”
“I was going through some personal issues and a lot things weren’t working and I shouldn’t have made a decision like that,” said Johnson, the 2004 fighter of the year. “After some time to think about it, I went to the gym to shake out. I was doing gym work and feeling good. I felt like I would like another opportunity.
“I would like the chance to go out there and convince myself that the things I’ve been working on, and the things I’ve been missing the past couple of years, are there. I believe there are changes I need to make in my style to get back to where I want to be. I want to take that chance.”
“Johnson is a great name and it will be a fantastic fight to end the year with before looking at a world title shot next year,” Groves said. “He’s a true warrior and will come to fight and in no way am I expecting an easy night’s work against him. I’ll be training my guts out for this fight and it could turn into a brutal and bloody war, one that the fans will relish.
“He’s had 70 fights with 35 knockouts and is a massive step up for me in just my 16th fight. A win against him would be great on my record.”
Said Johnson, “This is a young guy. They have a lot of hopes for him and the boxing public is keeping an eye on this guy, so if I go in his hometown and do what I think I can do to him, it will make me feel I can still do the things I think I can do.”
“The man is like a tank coming forward all the time and I’ll need to pull out some big bombs if I’m going to stop him,” Groves said. “Top men like Froch and (Chad) Dawson, plus Antonio Tarver and Clinton Woods couldn’t halt him so it’s a tall order. But I’m confident in my abilities and if I can be the first since (Bernard) Hopkins (in 1997) to stop him then it will send a strong message out to the 168-pound world champions that I’m coming for them.”
