Kirk Johnson

I personally thought he was a really good fighter with underrated power, but lacked mental toughness. His knockout of Lou Savarese was devastating, he absolutely pole-axed him.

 

The only thing that stands out about this guy is Klitchko beat the living hell out of him, a very long time ago...

Then after he was stopped by Ruiz he quit, or retired....

 

Akording 2 salty_trunks, Johnson woz regularly floring hiz steibelm8, Ibeabuchi in sparing. Akording 2 him egen, Ruiz woz ebaut 2 stop Johnson, bat i stil nid 2 woch it end decaid bay mayself

 

He fought Ruiz first..Got disqualified after being ahead on points...Ruiz was always a great actor..
He should have fought Lewis in April 2003. An injury stopped him and Vitlai got the shot...Then he and Vitali squared off in december 03, the rest is history..
A good fighter, but with weaknesses...:deal

 

should have been a lot more, something didn't work? was it his attitude, was it management, was it Boxing's Bull****, but he had it to be more.

same with Ike, but compared to Guinn for instance these two were real!

 

Heizenburg.. This guy is a good friend of Tyrell Biggs and i can tell you plenty regarding him.
Tyrell took him under his wing when Kirk was an amateur and helped with his progress..later after Ty retired and things werent going so well Kirk returned the favour giving Biggs a job in his camp.
Kirk is still only early 40's and hasnt officially retired although only one fight in last few years.
He fought a list of trial horses through the nineties beating the likes of Purrity,Billups,Marin,Donald etc..age 29 he lost to Ruiz but beat Maskaev to remain a top contender...he was due to fight Lewis but didnt due to injury...then turned up outta shape for Klitschko and got well beat.
Only fought a few tines since but Ruiz and Klit his only 2 defeats i am pretty certain.
Big strong guy about 6"2 or 3....strong build but often looked like be could be fitter..not a great trainer..
Incidentally took his local police force to court for harrasment always pulling him over etc..and won a compensation claim that he used towards a scholarship for a young kid each year...a good guy by all accounts seems like he reached a level then the 2 defeats hit his motivation.
Probably one of those guys who just lacked the mindset to take him up a level.
Its a hell of a tough occupation ! He ticked alot of boxes but not quite all the ones needed.

 

Heizenburg....its not my documentary..i just got to know Tyrell..ive been sent trailers and clips of it from the filming it would be a great story for people to watch..about how hard life is when u hit your peak age 26 then things go downhill...currently they need funding to give it its final launch...back to Kirk..i have a photo of him with tyrell taken in a camp Kirk had i think leading up to klitschko...Tyrell looks fitter than Kirk !....if you had kirks power and Tys speed and skill you would have a great boxer.!
Finally if i recall.. Kirk had a good amateur record also...think he went to the 92 olympics ? Which is where Biggs helped him..i think.

 

Very good amateur and a good solid pro as well. His record was a tad padded as you say but not without substance either. His main problem was maintaining his conditioning. But his career is nothing to scoff at.

 

Johnson wasn't stopped by Ruiz, it was a DQ. Ruiz was guilty of fouls in that match too. If memory serves, Ruiz faked a low blow in that match prior to the DQ punch by Johnson, which was low.

Johnson was a big man with fast hands, and feet. He had a good jab, and a powerful hook. He was only really beaten in one fight ( V Klitschko ). His best wins were likely Maskeav, Donald, and Saverese, and Cole.

 

The above is true...from what i can find out he just lost motivation after the klitschko fight...am trying to find out why he turned up for that fight in such poor shape...may be it was injury issues ?

 

Proof of the greatness of Ruiz.

 

Lennox Lewis didn't want no Byrd and trying one Klit was enough for him, all he wanted was Johnson. The thought of that fat Johnson was all he could get up for.