Gordon Williams, Contributor
Jillian and Glen after his championship fight.
In the clearing stands the boxer, a fighter by trade
And he carries the reminder, of every blow that made
him down or cut him 'til he cried out
- from 'The Boxer' by Simon and Garfunkel.
MIAMI:
JILLIAN JOHNSON knows, just by watching her man enter the door of their Florida home, what kind of day he had at work.
Cut lips. Puffy eyes. Sometimes not a scratch at all, just a tired, drained look, tells her how hard the Clarendon-born man is preparing for his next assignment.
Still, he often carries home a smile for her because he is a good husband, whom she admires and respects, although he can get a bit antsy as a big job - which usually comes up a few times a year - draws closer.
The best thing - or worse, there's some debate - is that the petite, 'bouncing 30' woman from St. Mary gets to watch him close the deal at work. After months of preparation, she is on spot to see the final results. There's big money involved, but to make his presentation, Jillian Johnson's husband turns up at work not in a posh boardroom facing a cluster of rich execs in sharp suits across an elaborate table. He's in shorts, gloves, bare-chested and jumping around on canvas under the heat of bright lights in a square ring cut off from her by a few feet, his handlers and some rope. Across from him is another man about the same size, dressed the same way, going through a similar routine. He is eager to hurt her man. Badly. And she must watch.
GLEN JOHNSON
As the bell clangs to begin her husband's work, the day he closes another deal, Jillian Johnson, wife of light heavyweight boxer Glen Johnson, launches into her own fight routine right alongside his.
"The first thought that comes to mind is I am so proud of this young man," she starts out. "I thank God for blessing him with abilities and a sound mind and both fighters are safe."
Then it gets a bit blurry.
"After that my mind is going a mile a minute," she admits. "The first round is always the most nerve wracking until I see him having things under control."
UPS AND DOWNS
Of late, Jillian's husband has been in charge of most things, at home and work. He first saw her some four years ago, a chance meeting in Miami, and started a long dating process which ended in marriage last July. During that time Glen Johnson has won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Light Heavyweight Title; given it up to fight for bigger prize money and won that battle against American Antonio Tarver; been named best fighter in the world for 2004; lost the Tarver rematch last year; and is now on an urgent mission to get it all back - belt, big purses and all, before his time in the ring is done.
In his last fight on February 24, the 37-year-old 'Road Warrior' scored a unanimous 12-round decision over fellow Jamaican Richard Hall in Hollywood, Florida. He described that bout as "keeping busy" until he clashes with Britain's Clinton Woods, a man he has fought twice before, drawing once and winning.
BIGGEST FIGHT
Yet some two years ago, after beating Woods to grab the IBF title, the crown Woods has since regained, Johnson was asked what was his biggest fight in more than 40 professional bouts. Without hesitating, he quipped: "Getting that woman to marry me."
"That woman" was Jillian, whom he affectionately called 'wifey' long before they exchanged vows. During the bout against Hall she sat, legs crossed, composed in an elegant off-white suit occasionally sipping water from a bottle. She was nervous as hell, but no one else could really tell. A conversation with her hours before the fight had offered only a glimpse at her personality. Jillian Johnson from Annotto Bay, Jamaica is not shy, and hardly short of confidence. Her expression rarely changed as she delivered her words in a low, easy and measured tone, except for the sudden blushing smile as she offered a response to Johnson's comment two years ago.
"He said that? Wow!" she blurted out, apparently surprised that her equally "calm, cool and collected" partner, as she describes Glen, had ventured so far out on a limb of public expression.
SITS AT RINGSIDE
Jillian Johnson has been to several of her husband's fights. She sits ringside, close enough to follow the brutal sounds of the game - the crisp, rhythmic bap, bap, bap of the jabs and the heavy thump of the uppercut or straight right as punches meet human flesh hardly designed to withstand such pounding. She hears the grunts and groans which follow each blow. Not every woman-behind-the-boxer can do that, at least not calmly to the end. American television highlights recently showed a mother, distraught at the beating her son was taking, leaping into the ring to bash his opponent over the head with her shoe. Other women, like the mother of Jamaican-born undisputed world cruiserweight champion O'Neil Bell, will simply stay away. Well, sort of. Norma Bell actually goes to the city where her son will fight, but refuses to enter the arena. She stays nearby, preferring to telephone someone else for a fight update.
"Oh no, I can't take it," she says. "I will support (O'Neil) in my hotel room. It (boxing) is not safe, that's what gets me worried so much, because that's my son in the ring and I can't watch it. I don't have the stomach for that."
ADAPTING
Neither does Jillian Johnson. But she is learning. Prior to meeting Glen, Jillian said she "hated boxing." Today she has mixed emotions about the brutal sport, but has accepted it. It is the passion of her man and has been that way for close to two decades. He won't quit, so Jillian has trained herself to feel the same way and has worked out a simple equation to deal with it.
"The fact that he loves it, I have to respect that," she says, "and because I love him I have to love what he loves, which is boxing."
That does not mean she merely rolls with the punches. Jillian Johnson spends so much time studying the game these days that she claims to know more about it than her husband, who takes her to watch fights even when he is not in the ring.
"I know the names and weight classes," she explains. "I can tell him about it. I research it. I want to be educated about the sport."
LEARNT TO COPE
She has learned to cope in other areas as well. Her father moved her from Jamaica to New York in 1986. She attended middle school in the U.S. and about 12 years ago she relocated to the American South where she earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Florida Atlantic University. She works in real estate and it was four years ago, while driving out of Florida on a business trip, that Glen saw her in traffic and asked her to pull over. He wanted to talk. They exchanged numbers and spoke by phone for about three of the eight hours of her road trip. It was an odd encounter for both of them. Call it fate.
"It was not in my character (to do that)," she says. "It was out of character for him too."
At the time Glen Johnson worked in construction to supplement his boxing income. He is a skilled carpenter. Shortly after they met, he made up his mind to nail down a permanent relationship with her. But Jillian wanted to wait, to see what he was like in all situations. Still, she liked his "soft hands" and sized him up as "very persistent, a humble guy."
GENTLEMAN GLEN
She would eventually get the character sketch she sought. Writers have nicknamed the Jamaican fighter 'Gentleman Glen' because he rarely complains about bad ring decisions - and he has suffered a few - or says anything really nasty about opponents, a common occurrence in boxing. Johnson has earned their respect and he is not afraid to dole out some as well. When he loses, as was the case against Tarver last year, his wife says he accepts it well.
"He said he takes his wins like a man," Jillian explains, "and he takes his losses like a man."
She liked that. His dedication also impressed her. Yet when her husband returns from work and he is banged up, that bothers Jillian . She has had to find subtle ways to cope.
"I see him come home from fights with busted lips, eyes, it hurts me," she admits. "It's my face. I know I have to kiss him gently."
Yet it's before he gets home, during the battle, when she is sitting at ringside, that Jillian becomes most vulnerable. In the Hall fight, blood squirted across the ring. Some splashed as far as the judges' table. That unnerved her a bit.
"Yes, it does bother me," she says.
Turns out the blood came from a gash on top of Glen's shaven head, caused by bumping into Hall's cornrow. Head butts are common in boxing, but that does not make it easier for Jillian Johnson to accept. Yet she doesn't question fate and that makes it easier. After the Hall fight she climbed into the ring to be with her husband. Later, inside the steamy locker room, she sat by his side, occasionally mopped his brow and helped him get dressed. She watched as he talked to strangers, posed for photos and signed autographs as his handlers relived the events in the ring less than an hour earlier. All part of the job. Jillian Johnson also watched in silence as her husband slumped on a chair recovering from another tough day at work.
"I'm sure of one thing," she says, "I put God first and I'm sure nothing is gonna happen that should not happen."
Coming up, sometime this summer, is Glen Johnson's inevitable third meeting with Woods. A title is on the line and Johnson wants it. His wife can sense his intense desire. He believes he will win. She does too.
"Glen is full of confidence even if he has doubts," she says. "In his head he is the best. And he is the best."
She knows, because she has seen him on the job. Up close.
HOW BOXING IMPACTS HEALTH
DR. PAUL Wright, sports medicine physician and orthopaedic surgeon said that if a boxer is constantly pounded upon, certain diseases will be noticeable over a long period of time such as personality changes, loss of temper or a tendency to be impatient; their motor skills could be impaired or they can get Parkinson's disease.
He added that these diseases might be detected by doing a MRI or CT or CAT scan. He noted that the fact that these tests are very expensive, it's not economical for the boxer to do them readily. Thus there is a cheap easy way to reproduce tests (digital symbol substitution test), to detect the small changes in both diseases. Also there are other diseases associated with constant pounding on the head or body such as: epilepsy, memory and punch drunk syndrome. Punch drunk syndrome is a condition that occurs in people who have suffered multiple concussions, commonly manifested as dementia, or declining mental ability, and parkinsonism, or tremors and lack of co-ordination. It can also cause unsteady gait, inappropriate behaviour, and speech problems.
Also, external trauma to the head is capable of damaging the brain, even if there is no external evidence of damage. More serious injuries can cause skull fracture, blood clots between the skull and the brain, or bruising and tearing of the brain tissue itself.
Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.
