Stevie Johnston seemed uncomfortable at a LoDo bar, even though it was early afternoon and the few patrons had their eyes trained on the Kentucky Derby. Aptly, manager Jim Rider compared the 2006 Derby winner, Barbaro, to Johnston, who blames alcohol for derailing his life.
“You’ve got a great champion with a fracture,” Rider said, comparing Barbaro’s leg to the Denver boxer’s urge to drink excessively. “What are you going to do, put him down or try to fix him?”
Johnston is still on his feet. But just barely.
And he credits his new manager for saving his life.
Known as “Lil’ But Bad,” Johnston is fighting his way to be good. A good friend. A good father. A good man.
The IBA lightweight champion is tired of making excuses for his misfortunes. He is looking at himself, admitting his inability to drink in moderation and his struggle to flee from the tempting influences of metro-area friends.
“I’m not like when I was younger, going on talent and cockiness and thinking nothing can hurt me,” Johnston, 34, said while preparing to defend his title Friday at the Broomfield Event Center. “It just doesn’t work anymore.”
On a quest to rebuild his boxing career, Johnston first had to rebuild his life.
After a night of drinking nearly cost him his career and his marriage, Johnston eventually went to Florida to visit a friend, and that’s where he met Rider.
Johnston’s downward spiral came in late 2003. The exact date remains hazy because Johnston said he has no memory of the car accident that nearly took his life.
Johnston’s wife, Vivian, said her husband, her husband’s former Manual High School classmate and basketball star Chucky Sproling and a female friend were drinking the night of the crash. The boxer, who was a passenger, went through the windshield. It took more than 100 stitches to close the wounds on Johnston’s face.
Vivian went to see her husband in the hospital and told him she didn’t want to be with him anymore. It helped jar Johnston’s attitude.
“We split up after that, and I told him that it wasn’t working,” Vivian Johnston said. “He was doing a whole lot of other things, and I just couldn’t take it. He went to Florida and realized his career and marriage was going into the toilet.
“Once you see that you’ve lost everything, I think he wanted to lose what was taking everything away.”
Finding a way out
With a disfigured forehead, a failing marriage and a career at a standstill, the 5-foot-5 Johnston headed to Florida in January 2005 to visit former boxer-turned-trainer Buddy McGirt.
Johnston, who twice held the WBC belt in the 135-pound lightweight division, showed up weighing 180 pounds.
“Stevie was down there, kind of in limbo, deciding if he wanted to come back into boxing,” Rider said. “He was way out of shape at the time, but everybody knew about his talent. I dug in on the story about him, and learned that his manager was holding him hostage with a lien on his career.
“We paid it off, got him clean, moved him into my house, and he’s been with me seven days a week, 24 hours a day since.”
Rider said he paid $25,000 to release Johnston from his previous manager, and put the fighter in counseling for his drinking problem.
Johnston went more than two years without a fight, but living in Rider’s guesthouse in Vero Beach has helped him battle his addiction.
“I’d been boozing too much, man, and didn’t have nothing else to do. I had no work,” said Johnston, who is 40-4-1 with 18 knockouts as a pro. “I couldn’t do what I’d like to do, to fight, so I’d just go get a six-pack, and get (drunk) every day.”
Working out in Colorado Springs since May 1, Johnston’s days are regimented. He is up by 6 a.m. and puts on a wet suit before going for a 4 1/2-mile run. That is followed by breakfast, then off to the gym by 11 a.m.
His workout sessions, which include sparring, shadow boxing and working the bag, are based on three-minute increments with 30-second breaks, just like a fight. Johnston is working the equivalent of 20 rounds a day.
They are out of the gym by 12:30 p.m., then after a nap, Johnston has another light workout before dinner and bed.
All this in preparation for Friday’s fight against WBC Latino and WBA FEDEBOL super featherweight champion Humberto Toledo (31-3-2, 19 KOs) in Broomfield. Toledo fights at 130 pounds; Johnston at 135.
Tough times in Denver
Friday’s event will mark Johnston’s first bout in Colorado since the controversial draw against WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo in September 2000 at the Pepsi Center – an event that accelerated his downward spiral.
Johnston, 10-2 since that fight, originally was named winner of the WBC lightweight title fight. But a scoring error on one of the judges’ cards and the fight was officially a draw, with all three judges calling it 114-114.
Johnston, who had lost the WBC title to Castillo three months earlier, took the champion’s belt to Castillo’s dressing room after the error was announced.
Feeling cheated by the draw, Johnston said his sense of self-worth dropped and his drinking increased.
“I was devastated,” he said.
Johnston had fought Castillo in June 2000 at the University of Denver and lost in a 12-round majority decision. The Ring magazine dubbed Castillo’s win the upset of the year.
Johnston said the embarrassment of going 0-1-1 against Castillo before family and friends that year in Denver fueled his destructive path.
Johnston and Rider decided to come to Colorado to train at altitude, but picked Colorado Springs to avoid being tempted by the old ways. Johnston doesn’t want to see old friends in Denver, particularly the heavy drinkers.
“If they know I’m here in town, they’ll want free tickets and come knocking on my door,” he said. “I need my thoughts to myself.”
Trouble follows
Johnston, who says he has been sober for about two years, had troubles long before the car crash.
He fought off gang influence while he was at Manuel High School. He took 20 stitches to the back of his head and seven more in the shoulder after a brawl in 1991.
According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records, Johnston has been arrested three times in connection with driving under the influence, first in August 1996 and on two separate occasions less than two weeks apart in March 1998.
He also has arrests in connection with an assault in November 1991, larceny in January 1992, robbery in September 1992, and domestic violence in March 1993 and September 1996, both later dismissed.
He was jailed in March 2002 and again in May 2003 for not paying child support. Both times he was released early under an agreement that any money made from upcoming fights would go to pay the debt, which was up to $168,000 when he was released from jail in July 2003.
Johnston is the father of six children – four who were born before he married Vivian. He made $175,000 from a WBC championship-setup fight in September 2003 against Juan Lazcano, all of which went to pay child support to three women. At one point, Johnston’s boxing license was suspended because of child-support issues.
Rider said Johnston’s then-manager, Cameron Duncan, was supposed to collect 33.3 percent of that $175,000, and successfully stalled Johnston’s career when he couldn’t pay up. Duncan would not comment on the contract, citing details of the agreement.
Better without booze
Now, minus the booze, Johnston looks sharp.
“If you watched him hit the speed bag in the beginning, he’d mess up every 30 or 40 seconds and have to start over,” Rider said. “Now, he can do it for three rounds straight. His high-end coordination came back.”
Adrian Mora, a Thornton fighter also on Friday’s card, sparred with Johnston for six rounds Tuesday in Colorado Springs. Mora also sparred with Johnston before the Lazcano fight, just after Johnston got out of jail.
“No comparison. We’ve fought many, many rounds and, right now, he’s the best he’s been,” Mora said. “Night and day difference from when he was drinking and now.
“Before the Lazcano fight, he was only going six rounds in the gym, and I’m like, ‘How are you going to go 12 rounds against Lazcano?’ I was only hearing excuses. I was like, ‘C’mon, Stevie.’
“It was way obvious then that he wasn’t ready, and it’s way obvious now that he can beat anybody. … I’m so glad he’s quit the booze and got serious.”
Johnston said he “feels super” about everything in his life. He remains close to five of his six children, including his oldest, Stephanie, who was born when Johnston was 16.
“The first couple of days, coming back to altitude, was hard,” he said. “But now I feel like Superman. You’ll see a better fighter than what you saw at the Pepsi Center. I was doing a lot of drinking then.”
Charting a new course
Hoping for a big crowd and a Johnston victory on Friday, Rider wants to host a double title fight at the end of summer at the Pepsi Center against someone else with a belt.
“If he fills up the Broomfield Event Center, we’ll come back in August or September and offer the right amount of money to anyone that has a belt at the Pepsi Center, and then we’ll fight for another belt,” Rider said. “One of them will come in.
“But he’s got to win on the 18th, and look good, and we’ll come back to the Pepsi Center. We’ll have Showtime or HBO for that fight or make it a pay-per-view ourselves.”
Rider said the goal is to get fights against all the title-holders in the next three years.
Johnston is just looking forward to the day after his fight in front of his family and friends. That’s when he and Vivian, married 10 years now, will take their children, daughter Vivica, 9, and son Xavier, 7, to Disney World.
“After the fight, if someone asks me, I’ll say like the football players: ‘I’m going to Disney World,”‘ he said.
His uncle, Chris Johnston, resigned as Stevie’s trainer after the Lazcano fight. A father of two, Chris Johnston didn’t want to move to Florida after his nephew decided to renew his career. But he still thinks Stevie can be “a dominant force in lightweight.”
“I feel good about Stevie,” Chris Johnston said. “As long as he stays away from Denver and the drink, he can get his career back on track.”
About Johnston
A look at Stevie Johnston, who fights Friday night in Broomfield:
Age: 34.
Height: 5-feet-5.
Weight: 135 pounds.
Class: Lightweight.
Stance: Southpaw.
Pro record: 40-4-1 (18 KOs).
Johnston’s career
AUG. 18, 1991
Wins light welterweight gold medal at the Pan American Games in Havana, beating Edgar Ruiz of Mexico on points.
FEB. 16, 1993
After going 260-13 as an amateur and just missing the 1992 Olympic team, Johnston has his first pro fight, beating Frank Cordova by a TKO at McNichols Sports Arena.
MAY 2, 1995
Beats Howard Grant in Las Vegas to improve to 15-0 and win his first belt, the NABF lightweight title.
MARCH 1, 1997
Wins the WBC lightweight title by beating Jean-Baptiste Mendy in 12-round split decision in Paris; improves to 21-0.
MARCH 1998
Arrested twice on DUI charges less than two weeks apart (March 5 and 18), both times driving on Monaco Parkway.
JUNE 13, 1998
After defending his title three times, loses 12-round split decision to Cesar Bazan in bout in El Paso. First pro loss.
FEB. 27, 1999
Regains WBC belt in rematch against Bazan in Miami.
APRIL 27, 1999
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb pronounces day as Stevie Johnston Day. Johnston is honored at the City and County Building.
JUNE 16, 2000
After defending his title four times, loses WBC belt to Jose Luis Castillo on a major decision in 12 rounds at DU’s Magness Arena.
SEPT. 15, 2000
In the rematch against Castillo at the Pepsi Center, Johnston is named winner, but 20 minutes later it is announced a judge’s card had been added incorrectly. The fight was declared a draw with all three judges scoring the fight 114-114, allowing Castillo to retain the title.
MARCH 25, 2002
Sent to jail for not paying child support. Released eight days later to be allowed to train for April 20 fight, which he won, against Alejandro Gonzalez in Las Vegas.
MAY 28, 2003
Sent to jail for second time for not paying child support. Released in early July to be allowed to train for Sept. 13 fight against Juan Lazcano.
SEPT. 13, 2003
Loses by TKO in 11th round of title eliminator bout to Lazcano in Las Vegas, stalling Johnston’s run at getting back the WBC lightweight belt.
2003
Injured in car crash near Pepsi Center. As a passenger, Johnston went through the windshield and needed more than 100 stitches in his face.
OCT. 15, 2005
In first fight since losing to Lazcano and the accident, beats James Crayton in eight-round unanimous decision.
JAN. 27, 2006
Wins NABC light welterweight title, a heavier weight than he usually fought at, with 12-round unanimous decision over Steve Quinonez.
JAN. 26, 2007
Fighting at 135 pounds, wins a 12-round decision over Tyrone Harris for the IBA lightweight title.
MAY 18, 2007
Scheduled to fight Humberto Toledo as the main event at the Broomfield Event Center.
(SOURCES: WWW.BOXREC.COM AND DENVER POST LIBRARY STAFF)
Staff writer Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
