On December 12th, Star Boxing's undefeated heavyweight contender Kevin "Kingpin" Johnson (22-0-1, 9KO) finally will have his chance to stake his claim as the best heavyweight in the world when he challenges Vitali "Dr. Ironfist" Klitschko (38-2, 37KO) for Vitali's WBC Heavyweight Championship at the Post Finance Arena in Berne, Switzerland.
Kingpin, along with promoter Joe DeGuardia, will travel to Switzerland today to officially announce the upcoming bout Johnson, (WBC #6, WBA #6, WBO #9, IBF #12) is coming off an impressive fifth round stoppage victory over previously unbeaten, 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Captain, Devin Vargas in May on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights".
Klitschko is coming off a ten round beat down over previously unbeaten Chris Arreola (27-1, 24KO) on September 26th.
For sometime now boxing experts have considered Johnson to be the top American Heavyweight prospect, and on December 12th he will finally get his chance to prove it.
JOHNSON WITH PROMOTER JOE DEGUARDIA
"Ever since I first signed Kevin in 2006 I have been telling people that I have the next heavyweight champion of the world. On December 12th Kevin has the opportunity to finally make that happen," stated Joe DeGuardia, CEO and founder of Star Boxing. "Kevin has the ability and more importantly the style to beat Vitali, there is no doubt in my mind about that. Vitali controls most of his fights with his jab, but Kevin's hands are much faster and his jab is much sharper than Vitali's, so it will be interesting to see how Vitali can adjust when he is in with someone of Kevin's caliber."
Early in his career Johnson developed the reputation as a flashy boxer, with tremendous hand speed and athleticism, a jab that many compared to all-time great heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, and a mouth like the greatest ever, Muhammad Ali. The knock on Johnson though was that he didn't have the big heavyweight knockout punch.
As of late Johnson has done his best to silence those critics, scoring three consecutive spectacular stoppage victories, the most recent being against the aforementioned Vargas, who had over three hundred fights as an amateur and seventeen as a pro, none for which he ever tasted the canvas.
In Johnson, Klitschko will be facing a true heavyweight. Johnson usually weighs in around the 240 lb. mark, and at 6'3" he carries that weight extremely well. Johnson also sports an 82 inch reach, two inches longer than Klitschko's, something that Klitschko hasn't had to deal with since his epic war with former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world Lennox Lewis back in 2003.
Another interesting footnote that must be mentioned is that Johnson and Klitschko aren't exactly strangers to one another. Johnson has had sparring sessions with Vitali's younger brother Wladimir, the current IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion in past years for which Vitali was present.
"Vitali is a great champion, there is no disputing that, and I really want to applaud him for taking a fight against a heavyweight that none of the other champions wanted anything to do with. After speaking with Kevin I must say that he has us very confident in the outcome and we are looking forward to returning back to the United States with the new WBC heavyweight champion of the world," says DeGuardia.
About Star Boxing:
Star Boxing has been in operation since 1992. Star Boxing has worked to produce some of the most exciting and memorable boxing events in recent history. Star has continued to work with and develop a number of very exciting world champions, world rated contenders and young prospects. Star has consistently brought credibility, integrity, and exciting fights to the boxing industry.
