Fighting in Nanaimo turned his fortunes around, and maybe that can happen again.
Dashon (Flyboy) Johnson, from San Diego, arrived in Nanaimo earlier this week for his final stretch of training in advance of a big fight this Friday (May 13). Johnson (19-19-3) will be up against Victor Manuel Palacios (13-11-2) of Guadalajara, Mexico, in the main event of Rumble at the Rink 2.
“I’m excited about putting on a great performance on Friday night,” Johnson said.
Nanaimo feels like his second home, he said, and it’s understandable why that is. He endeared himself to the crowd at the first Rumble at the Rink a year ago, earning a unanimous-decision victory that halted a lengthy losing streak.
“That momentum and everything, feeling the love from the crowd and from everybody in Nanaimo, it put me in a different mindset,” he said.
And a different fighter emerged from the ring that night. Three months after his Nanaimo win, Johnson won the California State super welterweight title against a 9-1 opponent. Two months after that, he won the World Boxing Council’s North American super middleweight title against a 20-1-1 fighter. Two months later, he beat a 14-3 opponent who had 14 knockouts. Continuing to seek greater challenges, he was finally stopped in January in Philadelphia by an undefeated fighter.
“Now it’s time to get back on track, just like it was before,” Johnson said. “It started here; it’s going to start here again and I’m going to keep moving.”
He doesn’t know a lot about Palacios, but respects all his opponents, knowing one punch can change anything.
“I’ll go out there like I do with any other opponent, feel him out, and when it’s time to explode, I’ll explode,” Johnson said.
“I’m going for a knockout. A win by decision, a win by anything [else], I’m not going to be satisfied for me at this point in my career, in my life right now.”
He embraces the idea of being a main eventer and wants to put on a great performance that gets people talking about boxing.
With more than 40 fights’ experience, he doesn’t get nervous anymore. He feels different emotions – determination, a sense of peace that boxing is what he does and what he does well. He feels blessed to be able to compete.
“Before every fight I cry,” Johnson said. “I don’t cry because I’m scared; I don’t cry because I don’t want to be here or anything like that. I cry because I always think about everything I’ve been through, who I’m fighting for, where I’ve come from.”
GAME ON … The Rumble at the Rink 2 professional boxing card, consisting of six bouts, will be held Friday (May 13) at 7 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena. Tickets will be available at the door at a cost $20, or $60 for floor seats. For more information about tickets or the show, please visit www.gloved-up.com.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
Boxer Dashon (Flyboy) Johnson @DashonFlyboyJ talks about what his fight in #Nanaimo last year meant to him… pic.twitter.com/pyilZtSg2i
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) May 11, 2016
