Whatever happened to Kirk Johnson

Ha ha ha classic CJ

 

Good solid HW... Definitely could have achieved more had he spent more time in the gym and less at buffets.

 

Thanks Zodius Just another gem of mine telling the world the ungarnished truth

 

He's mostly right. Ruiz faked low blows to get out of the fight, Johnson also definitely had weight issues. No way he would have beaten Vitali, but he might have given a slightly better account of himself. Still even a fat Johnson was a threat early, so Vitali's destruction of him was very impressive.

 

Kirk Johnson was like those Cuban heavyweights who do fine until they sign a big contract. Once they have money, they don't care anymore.

Kirk Johnson became a number-one contender after beating Larry Donald. He'd looked really good in most of his fights up until then. He was a very good heavyweight. Maybe a little small, but fine.

After that, his contract was up with his promoter and he became a free agent. The Duva's signed him to a deal that paid him $1 million up front in a signing bonus. Once he got the check, it was essentially over.

Obviously, the Duva's thought they'd just paid a million bucks to the next WBA heavyweight champ. Ruiz wasn't great by any means. But Johnson not only didn't win beat Ruiz, he got DQed and lost.

Then he had two quick bouts against Jeremy Bates and the "Tuna" Savarese, before Lennox Lewis gives him a break and offers Johnson a shot at the "real" world title. During training camp, Johnson pulls a muscle and backs out. Whether he wasn't ready or he had second thoughts, who knows. A few months later, he gets another unbelievable opportunity against Vitali Klitschko. The winner gets a shot against the aging Lewis.

Even though he was supposedly training for the Lewis fight in June 2003, Johnson starts camp for the Klitschko fight a few months later at upwards of 300 pounds. So, he either gained 70 pounds in the three months he was off, or he was never in shape for Lewis to begin with.

So the Duva's paid him a million dollars and got him a title shot with Ruiz, which he blew, a title shot with Lewis, which he didn't show up for, and a fight with Vitali, which he didn't even try to win.

Worst million dollars spent that decade.

When Oscar De La Hoya turned pro, he received a $1 million signing bonus. And his Olympic teammate Raul Marquez made headlines when he said, referring to Oscar's payout, that if he (Marquez) had received a million dollars before ever throwing a punch, he might break his hand so he'd never have to fight again ... because he was already a millionaire. The statement actually hurt Marquez's career early on because people openly wondered if he really had the heart to be a champ.

But that mindset seems to be one a lot of fighters have. Give them the big money, and they're set. They don't really want to fight anymore. That's the way it appeared to be with Kirk Johnson.

 

His last public appearance was an interview for the groundbreaking documentary "T.K.O. in 6". Pretty sure there's a link to it on here somewhere..

 

watch the Ruiz fight again & look carefully at the supposed low blows. We sat & watched them in slow motion. The vast majority were perfectly legal shots but Ruiz cried foul & Joe Cortez warned Johnson.
Was Cortez crooked or incompetent?? You decide because he was calling body shots foul that were not fouls. so he obviously was influenced by Ruiz acting. That fight took the heart out of Kirk he lost all interes after that
There was a rumor went around that Klitschko's people paid Kirk to back out of the fight against Lennox so he could step in like he did, but I do not believe that. LOL If it was true Viali made a big nistake & nearly lost an eye

 

Post it if you can find it IB I'd like to see it

 

I don't agree. I think the money took the heart out of him.

He received his million dollar signing bonus before the Ruiz fight. Then he also got his purse for the Ruiz fight. He was rolling in cash before he climbed thru the ropes to fight for the WBA belt.

And he didn't fight very good at all in the Ruiz bout.

Ruiz was a 2-1 underdog. Johnson was supposed to beat him rather easily. And not only didn't he handle Ruiz, neither guy held the edge in the ring, although Ruiz was leading on all the cards. Johnson didn't look impresive. Neither guy did.

And I don't buy the "the loss took the heart out of him" argument, because Johnson got another title shot within a year against the REAL champ ... and he didn't even show up. AND HE GOT ANOTHER CHANCE RIGHT AFTER THAT, and showed up looking like a cow.

He was reportedly 300 pounds when he opened camp for the Vitali fight, only a couple months after Johnson was supposedly winding down training for Lewis. And he gave no effort against Vitali, either.

I can see how a loss could take something out of a fighter if he struggled to get that opportunity and then he never got another.

But Johnson had promoters tripping over themselves trying to sign him after the Donald win. He got a big cash payment up front. HBO wanted to do a contract with him. And the title opportunities just kept coming.

He was in the driver's seat for close to a year. His promoters delivered. Johnson didn't. When he got his money, that's when it all went south, because he didn't put on much of a fight against Ruiz, either.

I'd call it the "Odlanier Solis Syndrome" but Johnson came first. So I guess Solis got "Kirk Johnson Syndrome."

 

Kirkwas at his best when with Curtis Cokes in Dallas His manager wasn't happy even took him to Teddy Atlas for a while. Kirk said it was a farce he never saw Atlas in day to day training. Curtis was a great trainer always got the best out of his fighters Ike Ibeabuchi was fine while with Curtis His fighters respected him. He had two HW's capable of winning a title, every trainers dream, but both fell short for different reasons. Ive always felt sorry for Curtis that neither made it

 

Burger King happened to johnson

 

Enjoy.

 

(I'm way less fat now, btw)








(...Kirk Johnson probably isn't)

 

Hasn't he been peeping from the sidelines about a comeback for the last couple of years now? I think he had a fight scheduled but ended up pulling out of it.