Paul McCreath – On December 12 in Switzerland Vitali Klitschko will make a voluntary defense of his heavyweight title against undefeated American hope Kevin Johnson. Kevin like Chris Arreola before him is relatively untested at top levels. He has never met a top 10 fighter before let alone one who makes beating top ten fighters look easy. We all know what we are getting in Vitali. He is 6 foot 7 and 1/2 inches tall and weighs around 250 pounds. He is always supremely fit and carries a skill set that includes very good punching power, a strong jab and a fine chin to go with great stamina. In 40 fights since he turned pro in 1996 he has never been behind in points, has never been floored and has only once been taken the distance in a fight. That was against the very rugged Timo Hoffman back in 2000. He has met boxers of every shape and size. He has met sluggers and slicksters among them a few southpaws. There is not much he has not already seen and handled. His only losses came on injuries to both Chris Byrd and Lennox Lewis. In both fights he was leading on points at the time of the stoppage..
If Vitali has a weak spot you would have to think it would be either his age or his propensity to get injured. There is no doubt that for a period of time Vitali was injury prone. That is why he retired for 4 years but he rested and revitalized his body during those years and has come back strong and healthy. His injury problems seem to be behind him. As for his age he is getting up there at 38 years as of last summer. Will he age overnight? At 38 you have to think that Father Time will catch up with Vitali before long but I doubt it will be sudden. As a very fit individual I would think his ultimate decline will come more slowly when it comes. Those fighters who slip quickly are usually the ones who lose interest and put on weight or those who take a lot of punishment. There is no sign of that with the current champ.If anything he seems to be getting better with age.
So what does Kevin Johnson bring to the table in the hopes of defeating this very talented fighter? For one thing he is a big guy at 6 foot three and around 242 pounds. That is still smaller than Vitali but close enough to be competitive. This is not like Haye vs Valuev. The two fighters also have similar reaches. Kevin is best known for his jab but Vitali has a great one too. Kevin moves around well and has fast hands. He throws quick combinations and this could be an important factor in the fight. His detractors point to his lack of power .In compiling a 22-0-1 record he has scored only 9 KOs. The important thing to remember here is that 3 of those came in his last three fights. He was definitely feather fisted in his early fights but that was more a result of his personality than a lack of punching power. Lately he has been putting more hurt in his punches as shown against Devin Vargas in his most recent fight, a 6th round stoppage last May. He has also bulked up about 15 pounds over the past two years and this may has given him the confidence to slug it out more than before. He will never be a match in power for punchers like Lamon Brewster or Sam Peter in their primes but he certainly hits harder than Chris Byrd in his belt holding years. It should be pointed out too that Johnson is not fat. He has a muscular build and the extra weight is muscle. The draw on his record came in his 4th pro fight against Timor Ibragimov who entered the fight at 13-0. The result was pretty impressive at the time.
The biggest problem for Kevin besides the obvious quality of his opponent is his lack of experience against top ranked fighters. Kevin has had 23 fights in total and his best wins are over Bruce Seldon, Robert Hawkins, Terry Smith, Damian Wills and then Vargas. None are exactly world beaters nor anywhere near top 10. He is in the same position as Arreola was only Chris had at least a puncher’s chance. We know what happened to Arreola and Kevin does not hit nearly as hard as Chris.
Vitali has fought 40 times as a pro including 11 title fights. It is asking a lot to expect Johnson to outbox such a skilled and experienced fighter as Vitali over 12 rounds. His speed is his main hope.He also showed against Vargas the alarming habit of backing into the ropes and letting Vargas punch away. It didn’t matter against Vargas but this would be suicide against Vitali.
We should also remember than this is a voluntary defense. Vitali chose to meet Johnson because he sees Kevin as a low risk fight. Vitali is very intelligent and knows what he is doing. There are other fighters who would have provided Vitali with just as big a payday but he chose Johnson.That means something.
I expect that we will see Kevin make a decent showing. It won’t be wildly exciting but the first few rounds should be competitive as Kevin uses his speed and movement. About round 4 or 5 Vitali will begin to figure him out and apply more pressure as the wearing down process begins. Vitali’s last 5 fights have gone 8 rounds or more and this one will too. I expect the end will come around about the tenth, probably between rounds. Kevin Johnson may be unproven but I believe he is top 10 quality and he will last about the same as the other top ten opponents have done, 10 rounds or less.