Sweet Success WHEN OPPORTUNITY CALLED, CHERNEKA JOHNSON ANSWERED IN SPECTACULAR FASHION, UNIFYING FOUR WORLD TITLES AND ENSURING BIGGER NIGHTS TO COME By Anthony Cocks
I t was a historic night at Madison Square Garden on July 11, 2025. A capacity crowd packed the stands for the eight-fight card featuring boxers from nine different countries. Nearly 6 million viewers tuned in to Netflix to watch the show, headlined by the trilogy bout between undisputed junior welterweight champion Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. And there was not a single male boxer in the ring. While it wasn’t the first all-female card in boxing history – that honor goes to a small club show in Hawthorne, California, in February 1979 – it was by far the most significant. Backed by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, the event was designed to prove that women’s boxing could thrive on its own. Record purses, a near 20,000-strong live crowd and global exposure through Netflix made the night a watershed moment for the sport. Among those who seized the spotlight was Cherneka “Sugar Neekz” Johnson. The New Zealand-born Australian
hadn’t even been scheduled to fight. But fate intervened when Ring Magazine bantamweight champion Dina Thorslund discovered she was pregnant just five weeks before her bout against Shurretta Metcalf. Thorslund vacated her WBO title and was granted champion-in-recess status by the WBC, leaving Johnson, the WBA titlist, and IBF champion Metcalf to unify all four belts. Thorslund remained the Ring champion. Johnson didn’t waste her chance. Despite taking the fight on short notice, she dominated Metcalf from the opening bell, working her way inside the taller fighter’s reach to land thudding power shots with devastating effect. When the referee stopped the fight early in the ninth frame, Metcalf protested, but the result was clear: Johnson’s relentless pressure had overwhelmed her. It was arguably the most dominant display of the night. “I was very happy with my performance,” said Johnson, 18-2 (8 KOs), who received a career-high payday for the bout. “I was always confident leading into this bout. It was a short camp, but a productive one. We knew once I got past her long jab, I could go to work. Her balance wasn’t great, and I took advantage of that.” The bright lights of New York are a long way from Tauranga, New Zealand, where Johnson grew up. A self-
but beneath Tauranga’s postcard beauty lurked social problems – drugs, gangs and violence. When Johnson was 11, her family moved to Australia seeking a better life. They settled on the Gold Coast, a decision that would change everything. “I would’ve been about 12 when I went into a YMCA gym with my dad for fitness,” Johnson, 30, recalled. “[Former IBF lightweight titleholder] Phillip Holiday was the trainer, and after the first session he told my dad, ‘She’s got a bit of a fighter in her.’ From there, it became my passion. I was addicted.” It was a sliding door moment that shaped the rest of her life. Johnson began training with coach Allan Nicolson, father of Aussie boxer Skye Nicolson, at the Albert Boxing Club. She had her first amateur fight at 16 and quickly rose through the ranks, winning three national titles, three Golden Gloves championships and gold at the 2011 Junior World Championships. At 21, with over 60 amateur fights under her belt, she turned professional. The pro game suited Johnson. She signed with Hosking Promotions and started racking up the wins. Two years later, she captured the WIBA bantamweight title, but her first true test came in 2021 against veteran Shannon O’Connell. In the
described tomboy, she spent her childhood running barefoot to school, scrounging food from friends and playing tackle with the boys during recess. Life seemed carefree,
end, O’Connell’s experience was the story of the fight. Johnson suffered her first professional defeat via split decision. “You can’t dwell on the past.
Johnson dominated Metcalf in their July unification bout.
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 63
62 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker