Professional Career
He turned pro in 2002. After only three fights the lanky counterpuncher was thrown in with an undefeated Olympian in Timor Ibragimov who had already 13 victories. To the great surprise of the audience he held Ibragimov to a draw. Three fights later in 2004 he handily beat well-known clubfighter Robert Wiggins who was 19-3-1 at the time. After being somewhat inactive in 2005 he had another good win over a clubfighter in Robert Hawkins 2006 against whom he pitched a shutout.
At the end of November 2007 he was 17-0-1 and widely regarded as America's best heavyweight prospect largely to his dominant Jab.
On April 18, 2008, at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, Johnson defeated Terry Smith by unanimous decision. Johnson used his long jab and hand speed to maneuver his way around the aggression of Smith.
Johnson scored the biggest win of his career with a TKO victory over a badly faded Bruce Seldon in September 2008 in Atlantic City.
His last and most noted win prior to his title shot was against Devin Vargas on May 15, 2009. Johnson was declared winner by technical knockout after Vargas's corner threw in the towel early in the sixth round.
On 12 December 2009 Johnson took on Vitali Klitschko for the WBC Heavyweight title in Bern, Switzerland. Klitschko was never troubled by Johnson but still took few chances in front of an 18,000-strong crowd in Bern, Switzerland. The previously unbeaten Johnson was unable to land his trademark jab on the 6 ft 7in Vitali, and went on to lose a every round of a largely unexciting contest to the Ukrainian.
After the loss to Klitschko, Johnson racked up victories against Charles Davis (19-20-02) and Julius Long (15-14-0) before signing to take place in Eddie Hearn's Prizefighter tournament in the UK.
Read more about this topic: Kevin Johnson (boxer)
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