Marcus Johnson has pulled out of his HBO fight with Rodriguez on May 24. HBO is going with a doubleheader that night instead of the 3 fights since Rodriguez-Johnson is off.
Somewhat of a pity, although it was probably going to be one-sided in favor of La Bomba anyway. Back 3-4 years ago when they were unbeaten and featuring together on ShoBox cards, there were murmurs of Johnson vs. Rodriguez being a marquee attraction down the line, but now with things shaking out as they have, they've simply landed on different rungs of the ladder. Rodriguez is a legit world title challenger, easily & borderline humiliatingly outclassed by the #1 in the division (who is top 5 p4p, so not really that humiliating) but still within shouting distance of picking up a belt at some point. Johnson is a fringe contender, and on the outskirts of the 'fringe' at that. In 2010 some even projected Johnson was the more versatile guy with the higher ceiling. :think
I agree about it being a minor letdown its off. I saw a number of people weren't excited about the fight but I didn't mind it. It looked to be somewhat competitive, Rodriguez would have been the clear favorite, and it was the opening fight of a good tripleheader. Not my first pick for a fight but considering it was a 3 fight card and HBO owes Rodriguez a fight anyways I thought it was fine.
