Johnson: June 21 Will be My Night!

April 25, 2003

By Andre Courtemanche
Photos: Tom Theobald

Heavyweight title challenger Kirk Johnson, 34-1-1 (25), says he knew his luck was going to change. After being DQ�d for questionably low blows against former WBA boss John Ruiz, Johnson says he always kept a positive frame of mind. And when whispers began to swirl about him fighting the true champion, Lennox Lewis, he knew it was his time.

Speaking to the media about his June 21 bout at the Staples Center for the linear heavyweight title, the quick-fisted Canadian says he could feel a big opportunity coming. �When all that back and forth was going on (Lewis initially said he would negotiate with both Vitali Klitschko�s people and Johnson�s) I didn�t care. For them to even say Kirk Johnson was fighting Lennox Lewis; in my mind it was already done. I have to keep myself focused to win the heavyweight championship of the world and let my father and manager and promoter take care of the other things. I now have the opportunity to show that Kirk Johnson is the best heavyweight on the planet and June 21 will be my night.�

With the WBC having announced that they will not sanction the Lewis fight, Johnson says he doesn�t care which belt he will win with a victory over Lewis (the fight is technically for the IBO championship). In fact, after the Ruiz debacle, he prefers that the big sanctioning bodies not be involved. �I don�t care if it�s not sanctioned. I fought for a major belt and politics kicked me out of the fight. The bottom line is it doesn�t matter. As long as people know who the real champion is, that�s the main thing. Belts don�t make a difference. Once I beat Lewis, Kirk Johnson will be recognized as the man-who-beat-the-man-who-beat-the-man.�

Johnson stressed that his performance against Ruiz, in which he was visibly hurt at one point and at some points lacklustre at best, has nothing to do with the future. �Styles make fights and Lewis has a different style than Ruiz. I can see the punches a little more easily from Lewis. Lennox punches right from round one. Ruiz never threw nothing, so he caught me off guard.�

Johnson claims the sting of suffering his first loss by being DQ�d in a challenge for the WBA title doesn�t bother him anymore, nor does the fact that he ended up with a draw because of low-blow penalty-point deductions against a fighter named Alfred Cole earlier in his career. He says he will continue to go to the body with confidence. Still, the Nova Scotia native took time for an anatomy lesson to back his contention that both men were faking their injuries. �Both those guys were losing the fight and they needed something to avoid getting knocked out and that�s what they did when it came to borderline shots and body shots. I don�t know if you realize it or not, but your private parts are directly underneath your bellybutton and in the middle. I never heard of anybody�s private parts being on the side of their hip. Never.�

So how do you beat a long-time champion and countryman who has always seemed to be able to one-up you in the past? �My style is important to stick to my game plan. I can�t go in there like a Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield. I have to go in there and be Kirk Johnson. Whenever I�ve stuck to my gameplan, I�ve had good results.� And what about the pole axe of a jab that Lewis wields? �How will I get around Lewis� jab? I�m going to make him get around my dynamite jab that is much more effective than his jab.�

Last year, low blows brought Kirk Johnson to the brink of oblivion. Now, with faith in himself, and a smashing knockout of Lou Savarese, he is back and claims to be ready to score an above-the-belt upset over his formidable countryman. With excellent hand speed and decent power, against an aging champion who could turn old over night, maybe Johnson will get the opportunity to bring the title back to the Great White North. He�s already been south of the border too often.