Jim Whelan Boardwalk—-Anthony Johns had fallen just short in years past, losing in the quarterfinals in his first national tournament, and then the semifinals the following year.
He is determined to bring a title home to his father, Anthony Williams, who had made it to the finals of the 1998 National Golden Gloves competition but fell short of the title. Williams, who has trained his son since he was a young boy, taught him the ropes building towards a boxing career.
Finding qualified opponents are often difficult in the lighter weight division. In his first two fights, Johns fought as a flyweight and a junior flyweight, but he wanted to step up to the bantamweight division to get challenged. He says it’s partially due to the scarcity of smaller opponents in the United States, and to test out the waters at a higher weight class.
“I want to test to see how I feel up there because eventually I want to win multiple divisions and I want to test how I feel right now,” said Johns. “I am gonna go back down. It’s just that right now, it’s tough with trying to find opponents.”
Anthony Johns (4-0, 3 KOs), a 2019 National Golden Gloves champion from Brick City “AKA” Newark, NJ, went the distance for the first time as a professional, outpointing the crafty Jerrod Miner (2-15-2, 1 KO) by unanimous decision. One judge gave a round to Miner, scoring the fight 39-37, while the other two had it at 40-36.
Johns, 29, had the strength to wrestle in close against Miner and stunned him a few times in the latter rounds.
Johns, who fought at 108 pounds as an amateur, once again fought a much bigger fighter, weighing in at 113 against the 118-pound Miner. Miner’s size and ring experience helped him survive the last few rounds, as he tried to tie up Johns to avoid his flurries.
