Stevie Johnston vs Billy Schwer

Stevie Johnston retained his WBC world lightweight championship with a unanimous decision over Billy Schwer at Wembley Arena on Monday, 29 November, 1999. All three judges scored the contest 118-110 for the American, whose speed and accuracy steadily overcame the challenger’s determined efforts. Schwer, the European champion and mandatory challenger, had earned his opportunity through a successful run at that level. Johnston had regained the WBC championship from Cesar Bazan earlier in the year and arrived in London with considerable experience of defending his position away from home.

Schwer made an encouraging start. His longer reach and firm left jab helped him establish distance in the opening round, and he occasionally brought his right hand through behind it. Early in the second, a right uppercut landed cleanly enough to draw an acknowledging nod from Johnston. The challenger was finding openings, but the southpaw champion began answering with quicker, more varied punches. Schwer could trouble him at the end of the jab; maintaining that distance proved increasingly difficult.

A short right from Johnston opened a cut near Schwer’s left eye early in the third. In the fifth, a combination of four punches added wounds around the nose and beneath the right eye. By halfway, the challenger’s corner had several injuries to attend to between rounds. Johnston’s advantage lay in the compactness of his work. He delivered short hooks and uppercuts at close quarters, changing the direction of his attacks before Schwer could establish a sustained reply.

Schwer continued trying to force the contest, drawing encouragement from his supporters whenever he advanced or landed. Johnston, however, was controlling too many exchanges for those efforts to alter the course of the fight. He often concentrated his sharpest attacks towards the close of a round. The challenger’s persistence kept him engaged, but it also exposed him to further punishment. His father, working in the corner, later said that he would have preferred the contest to end in the ninth. Manager Mickey Duff and trainer Jack Lindsay allowed him to continue, and referee Larry O’Connell did not intervene.

There was a brief complication for Johnston when Schwer’s jab caused damage around the champion’s right eye. The American adopted a more cautious approach in the ninth, then resumed his accurate combination punching during the last three rounds. Schwer made a final determined effort in the twelfth, but could not reverse the established pattern. He completed the distance without surrendering his resistance, although the decision was beyond reasonable dispute. Johnston’s record advanced to 29 victories against one defeat. Schwer had challenged willingly and endured considerable punishment, but the champion’s superior timing, speed and variety had settled the contest.

I thought Schwer started with the right idea, using his reach and jab to keep Johnston outside. He’d earned his opportunity through a strong European title run, and his Luton following gave him proper backing. But Johnston’s southpaw timing and variety soon exposed the gap. The short hooks and uppercuts were getting through before Billy could reset. Those cuts made a hard assignment worse, but they weren’t the whole explanation. Johnston was finding him far too easily.

Schwer’s courage deserves respect, especially after cuts had ended his earlier challenge against Rafael Ruelas. He kept trying, landed decent jabs and damaged Johnston’s eye himself. On the boxing alone, though, I couldn’t argue with a clear Johnston victory. Billy needed more variation after the jab; the champion had answers to his repetitive attacks.