Brian Maxwell believes he would’ve beat Chad Johnson if it was judged, says he plans on training with ‘Ochocino’ ahead of BKFC return

Brian Maxwell didn’t really believe he was fighting Chad Johnson until fight week came along.

Maxwell, a combat sports veteran, was messaged out of the blue to box the NFL Pro Bowler of the Mayweather-Paul undercard. It was surreal for Maxwell, but he says even though it was a massive fight, he wasn’t nervous.

“It really hit me when it was fight week. I got to Miami and you know all the media was talking to me and that’s when it hit me that it was time to fight Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson,” Maxwell said to BJPENN.com. “Then, to be honest, once I weighed in and we came face-to-face I wasn’t too nervous, it felt like I have been there before and I was at home again.”

When the fight started Maxwell wanted to feel out Johnson and see how good he was. However, Ochocinco landed a solid shot that stunned Maxwell and after that, he realized he needed to take the fight to the NFL star.

“The first round was more about seeing what Chad was like. I got caught in the first round as he landed one good shot and it surprised me,” Maxwell said. “We were there for entertainment and the first round set the tone for the rest of the fight. Chad does have a boxing background and he trained with Floyd for the past 15 years and he did his camp with the Charlo brothers. I knew he would have some skill and I wasn’t sleeping on him.”

Brian Maxwell drops Chad Johnson in the 4th round 😤💪#JohnsonMaxwell #MayweatherPaul pic.twitter.com/mPRZ4AohF7

— All the Smoke Boxing (@atsboxing) June 7, 2021

Once Brian Maxwell started to have success he knew he would drop Johnson. He said he saw the former NFL wide receiver’s hands start to drop and set up the big shot. Although they went all four rounds, no judges were involved due to being an exhibition. However, had there been judges, Maxwell believes he would’ve won the fight due to winning the third and fourth round and the fourth being a 10-8.

“After he hit me with that one good shot I started to press forward. I knew I could take his shots,” Maxwell said. “If you watch, I was waiting the entire fight to land that one punch. I knew I could jab to the body and come over the top and land a big shot and drop him. I do think if it was judged I would’ve won because of the knockdown.”

After the fight, Maxwell says his following has grown a ton while promoters have started to hit him up. However, he is making a quick turnaround. He will return on June 26 at BKFC 18 in Miami where Johnson will be with Maxwell to train with him and possibly corner him.

“Things have been super crazy since the fight, my following has gone through the roof. I talked to Chad a bunch this week, texting back-and-forth and we called each other,” Johnson concluded. “Chad will actually be with me for my bare knuckle fight on June 26. I can’t say who I’m fighting but I got booked quickly.”

What did you make of Brian Maxwell vs. Chad Johnson?