Callum Johnson produced the ideal victory over Sean Monaghan as he returned to America with a third-round stoppage win, says pundit, Matthew Macklin.
The British light-heavyweight floored Monaghan twice in the second round before he pounded the New Yorker to a halt in the third at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York, on Saturday.
Johnson hopes to earn another world title fight after a brave stoppage defeat to IBF champion Artur Beterbiev in October, and Sky Sports expert Macklin believes the 33-year-old fulfilled his own expectations.
“That’s exactly the kind of performance that Callum Johnson wanted, that’s what he was looking for,” Macklin told Sky Sports. “Seanie Monaghan, good name, at the wrong stage of his career for this fight.
“He was also tailor-made. Stylistically he was a bit upright, bit too slow, too stiff, and Callum Johnson who is a quick starter anyway, landed that lovely right hand when he walked him onto it at the end of the second, scored the two knockdowns towards the end of the round.
“Seanie Monaghan hadn’t recovered in the respite in between rounds. There was no way Callum Johnson was going to let him off the hook, just letting both hands go. Hooking viciously, left hooks, right hooks, body and head.
“Good hand speed and he will be absolutely over the moon with that performance.”
With WBA champion Dmitry Bivol topping the bill, Johnson was under pressure to deliver an impressive win, and Macklin felt he coped well with a crucial night for his career.
“It was a fight he was favourite to win, a fight he was supposed to look good in, and sometimes those fights you can try too hard to look good and you don’t perform as well as you should,” said Macklin. “But hats off to him, 10 out of 10.”
Stay tuned for updates on Callum’s next steps here!
