I have to admit Kevin Johnson has quite impressed me when I've seen him. I had a picture in my mind of what he would be like having seen his record, mostly built up on sub-par fighters. He surprised me. He's quite slick and fast handed, a very good athlete. He has a different style to anybody that Vitali has faced which is interesting. Of course his major problem is going to be the fact he's not much of a puncher, and nobody has come close to looking like beating Vitali on points.
NO... I have paid lil' attention to Klit's kickboxing days.... I did see Texas Cobb go at it a few times.... MR.BILL:yep
Can't blame the Klitschkos, the division is running out of contenders that they have to force the former Phoenix Suns point guard out of retirement and try boxing.
Vitali will surprise you!!!!!!! He was truly awesome. He used to fight a kick boxing fight, then fight boxing fight. He loves to fight. He was a six time world kick boxing champion, superheavyweight division, both pro and amateur.
"Johnson & Povetkin" are good / decent, but they'll get butchered on title fight night against either brother....... Same for the rabbit Edward Chambers...... Chambs. can box well and is slick, but, he has no power to keep the "K" bros. at bay...... Chambers would be a version of Carl Lewis doing a dash...... YES!!! And James Toney would be KO'd for the first time in his life by either Wlad or Vitali.......... The "K" bros. rule....... MR.BILL
Yes, at least the Klitschkos are both fighting the best within their division. Haye ran from them both. Vitali has tried to get Valouev, but Don King will not allow such.
Vitali has never had any problem with speed. He will stop Johnson. Vitali is so good within a ring, much better than he looks from outside. I remember Richie Giachetti and Larry Donald making fun on Vitali in Germany, but Vitali was the first to stop Donald. They were fooled.
Vitali fought the #1's of WBC three times in a row (Peter, Gomez, Arreola). He now fights another young prospect (undefeated Johnson). While Johnson may not look good enough to be a good challenge, he COULD be better for Vitali's legacy than any faded boxer (Maskaev, Toney, Ruiz) - that is, IF Johnson manages to become a champion in later years. Then Vitali will have another impressive name on his resume. I give Johnson 5% winning chance - that is, if Vitali hurts himself in the fight like he did in the Byrd fight.
Fun fact: In Wikipedia, the Kevin Johnson in Vitali's fighting record is the mayor of Sacramento... While Kevin Johnson has an entry in Wikipedia, the link between Klitschko and Johnson is not the correct one.
Doesn't mean they wanna fight Vitali. I agree Johnson is a weak opponent, but I look at it this way: Vitali is trying to stay as busy as he can fighting the best opponents available. The more busy he is tryign to stay the higher the % of bums. Who else (from the WBC top 15) is available for December?
He is ranked #6 by WBC. Good to see that Vitali is fighting again so soon, although in my mind Johnson should have to fight someone in top-20, before getting his shot for the title.