Kevin Johnson (boxer)

Kevin Johnson
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Kingpin
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Reach	82 in (208 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	September 7, 1979 Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey, U.S.
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	37
Wins	29
Wins by KO	14
Losses	7
Draws	3

Kevin Johnson (born September 7, 1979) is an American former professional boxer who challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title.

Amateur career

Johnson started boxing at the age of 18. He was an unheralded amateur with only a 14-2 record but won the New Jersey Golden Gloves, a minor title.

Professional career

He turned pro in 2002. After only three fights the lanky counterpuncher was thrown in with an undefeated Olympian in Timor Ibragimov who had already 13 victories. To the great surprise of the audience he held Ibragimov to a draw. Three fights later in 2004 he handily beat well-known clubfighter Robert Wiggins who was 19-3-1 at the time. After being somewhat inactive in 2005 he had another good win over a clubfighter in Robert Hawkins 2006 against whom he pitched a shutout.

At the end of November 2007 he was 17-0-1 and widely regarded as America's best heavyweight prospect largely to his dominant jab.

On April 18, 2008, at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, Johnson defeated Terry Smith by unanimous decision. Johnson used his long jab and hand speed to maneuver his way around the aggression of Smith.

Johnson scored the biggest win of his career with a TKO victory over a badly faded Bruce Seldon in September 2008 in Atlantic City.

His last win prior to his title shot was against Devin Vargas on May 15, 2009. Johnson was declared winner by technical knockout after Vargas's corner threw in the towel early in the sixth round.^[1]

On 12 December 2009 Johnson took on Vitali Klitschko for the WBC Heavyweight title in Bern, Switzerland. Klitschko was never troubled by Johnson in front of an 18,000-strong crowd in Bern, Switzerland. The previously unbeaten Johnson was unable to land his trademark jab on the 6 ft 7in Vitali, and went on to lose every round of the contest to the Ukrainian. Johnson injured his shoulder 2 weeks prior to the fight.

After the loss to Klitschko, Johnson racked up victories against Charles Davis (19-20-02) and Julius Long (15-14-0) before signing to take place in Eddie Hearn's Prizefighter tournament in the UK.

On Saturday May 30th 2015, Johnson lost by TKO to Anthony Joshua in the 2nd round after being knocked down twice in the 1st. This was Johnson's first stoppage loss.

Retirement

Johnson announced that he will retire from boxing after the defeat to Joshua.^[2]

Professional boxing record

References

1. Chen, Howard (May 13, 2009), "Vargas ready for his biggest fight", FOXToledo.com
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcm5G4dCmyc

External links

• Professional boxing record for Kevin Johnson from BoxRec