Callum Paul Johnson (born 20 August 1985) is a British professional boxer who challenged once for the IBF light-heavyweight title in 2018. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth light-heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018 and the British light-heavyweight title in 2018. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Johnson began boxing at a local club in his home town of Boston from an early age but moved to train at Terry Allen Unique ABC in Lincoln by the time he was 16.[1] He boxed on 120 occasions as an amateur winning 95.[2]
Qualifying through his grandparents, Johnson boxed for Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, defeating Northern Ireland's Thomas McCarthy in the 81kg light heavyweight final to win the gold medal.[3][4]
After the Commonwealth Games, Johnson turned professional, signing with promoter Frank Warren and being managed by former world champion Naseem Hamed.[5]
On 4 December 2010, he made his professional debut at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, stopping Phillip Townley in the second-round on on the undercard of Ricky Burns' world title defence against Andreas Evenson.[6][7]
Johnson won his first professional title when he claimed the vacant Commonwealth light-heavyweight belt with a ninth-round knockout win over Willbeforce Shihepo at Manchester Arena on 24 September 2016.[8][9]
He added the British light-heavyweight title to his collection thanks to a spectacular first-round stoppage of defending champion Frank Buglioni on 24 March 2018 at The O2 Arena in London.[10][11]
On 6 October 2018, Johnson challenged Artur Beterbiev for his IBF world light heavyweight title at Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois. He managed to drop the champion in the second-round with a left hook but Beterbiev recovered quickly and knocked Johnson to the canvas in the fourth round with a big right hand, forcing the referee to stop the fight.[12][13]
In his next bout, Johnson defeated Sean Monaghan, who was ranked #13 by the WBC at light heavyweight, with a third round technical knockout at Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, New York, on 9 March 2019.[14][15]
On 24 April 2021, he claimed the WBO Global light-heavyweight title with a second-round stoppage of Emil Markic at York Hall in London.[16][17]
Johnson retained his title via a majority decision win over Server Emurlaev at Arena Birmingham on 9 October 2021 with two of the ringside judges scoring the fight 99-92 and 96-94 in his favour while the third had it a 95-95 draw.[18][19]
Having not fought for more than a year, Johnson retired from professional boxing in November 2022[20][21] but reversed his decision and returned to the ring in December 2023 stepping up in weight divisions to compete at cruiserweight.[22][23]
His first comeback contest resulted in an opening round stoppage win over Darryl Sharp in Manchester on 8 December 2023, followed by a points victory against Viktar Chvarkou in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on 15 June 2024.[24]
Having previously been made a Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Boston, Johnson had a road named after him in his home town of Boston, Lincolnshire, in August 2020.[25][26]
| 24 fights | 23 wins | 1 loss |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 15 | 1 |
| By decision | 7 | 0 |
| By disqualification | 1 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Viktar Chvarkou | PTS | 6 | 14 Sep 2024 | Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham, England | |
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | Viktar Chvarkou | PTS | 4 | 15 Jun 2024 | Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham, England | |
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Darryl Sharp | KO | 1 (6) | 8 Dec 2023 | The Fuse, Partington, Manchester, England | |
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Server Emurlaev | MD | 10 | 9 Oct 2021 | Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, England | Retained WBO Global light-heavyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Emil Markic | TKO | 2 (10), 2:37 | 24 Apr 2021 | York Hall, London, England | Won vacant WBO Global light-heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Sean Monaghan | TKO | 3 (10), 0:23 | 9 Mar 2019 | Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, New York, US | |
| 18 | Loss | 17–1 | Artur Beterbiev | KO | 4 (12), 2:36 | 6 Oct 2018 | Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, US | For IBF light-heavyweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Frank Buglioni | TKO | 1 (12), 1:31 | 24 Mar 2018 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Retained Commonwealth light-heavyweight title; Won British light-heavyweight title |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Willbeforce Shihepo | KO | 9 (12), 2:07 | 24 Sep 2016 | Manchester Arena, Manchester, England | Won vacant Commonwealth light-heavyweight title |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Norbert Szekeres | TKO | 1 (6), 2:32 | 18 Jun 2016 | EventCity, Manchester, England | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Richard Horton | TKO | 1 (6), 1:18 | 7 May 2016 | Manchester Arena, Manchester, England | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Tsvetozar Iliev | PTS | 4 | 26 Jun 2015 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Jose Manuel Iglesias | KO | 1 (6), 1:17 | 11 Apr 2015 | First Direct Arena, Leeds, England | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Bartlomiej Grafka | TKO | 2 (8), 1:59 | 7 Mar 2015 | Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham, England | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Josef Obeslo | TKO | 1 (6), 3:00 | 7 Nov 2014 | North Kesteven Centre, Lincoln, England | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Luke Allon | TKO | 3 (6), 1:39 | 4 Oct 2014 | First Direct Arena, Leeds, England | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Nathan King | PTS | 4 | 27 Jun 2014 | Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Egidijus Kakstys | TKO | 2 (4), 2:10 | 17 May 2014 | North Kesteven Centre, Lincoln, England | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | John Anthony | DQ | 7 (8), 2:16 | 31 May 2013 | Town Hall, Walsall, England | Anthony disqualified for persistent holding |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | James Tucker | TKO | 7 (8), 1:18 | 18 May 2012 | Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, England | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Tommy Tolan | KO | 1 (4), 1:30 | 10 Mar 2012 | Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Lee Duncan | PTS | 4 | 16 Jul 2011 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Jody Meikle | PTS | 4 | 12 Mar 2011 | Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Phillip Townley | TKO | 2 (4), 1:34 | 4 Dec 2010 | Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland |
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