Klitschko vs. Johnson on December 12th? News

By Eric Thomas: It’s looking like World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (28-2, 37 KO’s) will be fighting number #6 ranked WBC heavyweight contender Kevin Johnson on December 12th, possibly to take place in Switzerland, according to the latest boxing news.

Clearly, the bout wasn’t going to take place in the United States again like last time against American Chris Arreola. Their fight failed to sellout the Staples Center arena, in Los Angeles, California. For Klitschko, his fights always sell out in Germany where he and his brother IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko started their careers.

Vitali Klitschko, 38, defeated Arreola by a 10th round stoppage. It was an impressive performance by Vitali, but boring for many of the boxing fans who saw it due to the one-sided nature of the bout. Vitali chose to move a lot rather than stand his ground and stand and trade with the shorter Arreola. It would have been more interesting for boxing fans to see some two action, but that’s not Klitschko’s style.

Like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Klitschko was born with certain physical assets that enable him to dominate a fight without getting hit. With Mayweather, it’s his incredible hand speed and defense. Klitschko has huge size at 6’7″ 250, along with great defense of his own that enables him to get out of the way of punches.

Johnson, 30, has great defense of his own. However, he still hasn’t proven that his defense will hold up against better heavyweights in the division. As of now, Johnson has fought strictly 2nd tier fighters, but he’s done well against them. Recently, Johnson was supposed to be fighting Cuban Odlanier Solis, who would have been the best opponent of Johnson’s career by a mile.

However, when Johnson saw that he had a chance for a title shot against Klitschko, he pulled out of the Solis fight. It makes sense. The Klitschko fight will give Johnson a good payday, even though he has only a slight chance of winning. Don’t tell that to Johnson, because he’s the type of fighter that is supremely confident. It’s good that he’s confident but the physical reality of the situation is that he’s too short, and too weight to do much against Klitschko.

Johnson’s best weapon is his jab, but that’s like going to a war with bb gun. It won’t slow Klitschko and it’s going to be painfully obvious earlier on that Johnson doesn’t belong in the same ring with a fighter like Klitschko. Despite being much shorter than Klitschko, Johnson has a two inch reach advantage over him at 82″ compared to 80″ Klitschko.

But without power to go along with that reason, Johnson doesn’t have the artillery to get the job done. Johnson would have been much better off facing a fighter like Odlanier Solis or one of the other lower ranked contenders rather than a Klitschko. However, he was selected for the fight by Klitschko, because Johnson is one of the few remaining unbeaten American contenders.

14 Responses to “Klitschko vs. Johnson on December 12th? News”