By Neil Dennis – On February 7, 2009, one-time heavyweight contender Kirk Johnson (36-2-1, 26KOs) will take the first step to rebooting his heavyweight career at Norfolk’s Masonic Temple in Virginia. The Canadian will face journeyman Dan Sheehan, who has been himself inactive since his KO win against Paul Philips two years ago. Sheehan has fought at light heavyweight, cruiserweight, and heavyweight against top opposition, going the distance with Daniel Judah, Mario Veit, and Elvir Muriqi..
This will end a three-year absence from the ring for Johnson. He has not fought since his contraverisal no contest fight with Javier Mora in 2006. The fight was originally a TKO victory for Mora until a California State Athletic Commission investigation determined the TKO had been the result of Mora stepping on Johnson’s foot when setting up his punch. Johnson dislocated his knee in that knockdown, forcing referee Tony Crebs to waive off the fight. According the scorecards, Johnson was ahead with two the judges at the time of the stoppage.
In addition, Johnson was once a top heavyweight contender. Unfortunately, showing up for his WBC title eliminator fight against Vitali Klitscko at a career-high 260 lbs. led to him being crushed in two rounds by the current WBC beltholder. Seeing as Johnson saw his best success fighting between 232 and 244 (this includes knockout wins against former beltholders Lou Saverese and Oleg Maskaev), fight fans can hope Johnson will be showing up at a more competitive fighting weight.
Also on the card is one-time lightweight contender and Portsmouth native Dorin Spivey (35-6, 28KOs). Spivey is trained by the legendary three-division champion Pernell “Sweetpea” Whitaker. Coming off a lop-sided loss to rising light welterweight prospect Antonin Decarie (21-0, 6KOs) Spivey is looking for a dominating win against Bernard Harris (22-23, 10KOs). Spivey’s fight with Decarie was the co-feature for the Urango-Njgoujo fight at the Bell Centre in Montreal that was televised on ESPN2 the past Friday.
Rising super middleweight prospect Bobby Jordan (6-0-1, 2KOs) is stepping up for his first 10-rounder against journeyman Don Hall (11-3, 4KOs). Noted middleweight “gatekeeper” Ross Thompson, best known for his distance fights with Kelly Pavlik and Jeff Lacy, will face German Juergen Hartenstein in a six-round bout. Local fighters Jeremiah Wiggins, Frankie Philipone, Ivan Ziglar, Cordero Simpkins round out the card.
Gold Circle and ringside tickets are available through Triple Mac Promotions by calling (757) 724-0026.