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Add FightsATW on GoogleOn the day the country celebrates 250 years of Independence, welterweight prospect Delante ‘Tiger’ Johnson comes home to Cleveland, Ohio, to fight on a card at the Wolstein Center, streaming live on TNT Sports in the U.S. and on DAZN worldwide. Johnson is set to face undefeated Christopher Guerrero (16-0, 9 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round bout. With the pressure that comes from fighting in front of family and friends, Johnson aims to deliver a strong performance that catapults him into the welterweight title conversation.
The 27-year-old Johnson made his debut in November 2021 and quickly went through opponents. After ten fights, he felt ready to face a higher level of competition. In December 2023, Johnson faced Jimerr Espinoza and left the arena with a split-decision victory. The reaction online at the time was that it might have been a step too high and that he needed to slow things down a bit. Johnson acknowledged the test that night but also felt it pushed him even harder afterward.
“If people took the time to look at my whole career, I’ve had some pretty solid opponents,” Johnson told FightsATW. “After getting the split decision with Espinoza, I got back in the gym the next week. As soon as I got home, I had some stuff to work on; tighten up. We can’t have any performances like that again. It only motivated me more to get back in the gym. It’s in the past now. Learn from it and keep it moving.”
Since then, Johnson has improved his record to 17-0 (8 KOs) and headlined a ProBox TV card in November, where he scored a fourth-round TKO over Nicholas Flaz. After that fight, Johnson took some personal time and spent it with his family while staying in the gym and working on the things he could improve.
A few months later, Johnson was seen at WWE’s WrestleMania event in Las Vegas, Nevada, with some of the best seats available for the event. It wasn’t his first wrestling event, but it certainly was the first time he attended one of that magnitude.
“That was my first big wrestling event in general,” said Johnson. “I’ve been to one event, I think it was (WWE) RAW in Houston like two years ago, but outside of that, that was my first big wrestling event, so I was geeked. That was fun. I felt like I had a crazy experience, but I wish it was Stone Cold, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, that type of era. I still had fun.”
Johnson is no different from anyone else in their 20s, wanting to enjoy themselves in their own way. Just as people on social media get a glimpse of Johnson outside the ring, a closer look shows he also wants to make a difference in the Cleveland area that raised him.
“I’m just someone who wants to make it big in boxing and feed my family,” Johnson told FightsATW. “I want to do something big for Cleveland. One of my future goals is to open my own gym one day to help kids stay out of trouble. I want to give back to my community. When it’s all said and done, I want to do something great. I want to make things happen outside of boxing and support my community.”
On July 4th, when everyone is enjoying a good barbecue and watching or setting off fireworks, Johnson is going to be getting ready to fight and look impressive. He knows that getting the job done on Saturday is critical to how he is moved in the future.
“I’m going to have a fun time,” he said. “My family and friends are going to be there. This is something the city has been asking for the longest. I’m excited to put on a show and represent. That’s all I ever wanted to do, represent my city, and I get the chance to do that on a holiday, which is crazy. It’s going to be an amazing night.”
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