BoxRec

it would be a huge shock if johnson pulls off the win i think vitali will win similar to the way he beat arreola but i cant see johnson crying at the end of it

johnson will get whooped. he will lose every single round up until the mid-late rounds when vitali will ko him. johnson is a bum

Johnson has a fantastic jab and also ............... well he has a great jab.

Usual Klit fight, dominate until a mid-late stoppage

marlo1 wrote:Plenty os sources say johnson is no bum. Could he shock the world.

I certainly hope not as I'd like to see Vitali do a Herbie hide on David Haye.

hayes no herbie hide !!! haye will be vatali's biggest test out there

Great jab. Shit at everything else.

Can't see him winning despite that nice jab. Fair play to Klit for being active since his return - 3rd fight this year.

Vitali by obligatory late TKO, prob similar to Larry Donald fight. These American heavies don't truly believe they can win anymore.

I would be very surprised if Vitali loses this not because Johnson is a bad fighter but because the Klitschko's are so dominanant and deal very well with littler fighters. I'm going for Vitali in the middle to late rounds

marlo1 wrote:Plenty os sources say johnson is no bum. Could he shock the world.

I certainly hope not as I'd like to see Vitali do a Herbie hide on David Haye.

Yeah, he nearly killed Hide, left him lying prostrate and paralysed in the ring that night.

Is he fast? Does he provide awkward angles? From what I hear, no, so I doubt he'll beat Vitali.

I said it when the fight was announced, Johnson's got a great chance. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he were to win, or at least give Vitali a serious argument.

I watched a few of Johnson's fights around the time Haye was looking for an opponent for his 2nd fight at the weight and from what I saw he's a serious threat to any heavy out there.

Obviously he hasn't fought anyone as good as Vitali or Haye so he might not live up to the promise he's shown, but it's definitely there.

When the Solis fight fell through I was relieved, for Solis.

I doubt it. He'll probably hammer this guy through the canvas at some point.
His record looks suspect, like one of those carefully built up yanks the Germans love to bring over for their heavyweights.
Hardly any names on there, for so many fights. Not much of a puncher, and we don't even know if he's got a chin, Vitali dines out on these type of opponents.

He hasn't even knocked out Monte Barrett yet for god's sake! The young heavyweightcontender badge of honour!

I thought Johnson looked fairly promising, nice speed, decent skills and slickness, but going in against Vitali the Giant is probably too soon and too much for him, I think its an interesting contest though

I've only seen a bit of him, and he's got a nice looking jab on him, but so does Vitali, and longer probably. My Sky sports just expired, but I'm hoping to catch it on RTL free view.
It's in Switzerland isn't it? Weird place to hold the fight really.

I've picked him to win on points, right place at the right time.

johnson has no chance against vitali, he said this when the match was made, he's just typical of american heavyweights at the moment they are going to fall short.

The Ring magazine think the world of Johnson, they even went as far as saying he is the 'saviour' but I presume this is due to the fact that he is an undefeated stylish American Heavyweight and as soon as he loses they won't give him a inch of column space. I've only seen him box twice, hes very fast, has a nice crisp jab as others have stated and he is a bit of a character. Cant see him winning this Saturday. Eddie Chambers is the best American Heavyweight by a distance.

I just hope its a bit more competitive than recent defences, it would be nice to see Vitali under more pressure. I also get the feeling that Klitschko has been holding back in his recent defences. He seems content to stand-off and wear people down on the outside.

Been watcing some youtube highlights

I think this will be worth an under bet. I think it will dawn on him how big a task this is when he gets in the ring

This fight says two things about current heavyweight boxing.

1 - That we recognise Vitaly Klitschko as some sort of Sonny Liston on stilts.

2 - That the fact Kevin Johnson HAS a jab is sufficient reason to think he beats Klitschko.

Shouldn't all heavyweights HAVE a jab?

Is this really the aspiration, the dream - to find a heavyweight who has A JAB?

Is the baseline for heavyweight contenders THAT low?

Johnson has the toughness to cause an upset, but I don't think he has the offense. He's probably the most relaxed, confident and naturally gifted fighter Vitali has faced for a long, long time. Unfortunately, I don't think Johnson is able to do much beside throw triple jabs and move. I just can't see it being enough. Johnson's better than his record suggests though and he's been used many times in Germany as a sparring partner for Valuev. He used to handle Valuev very easily back in the day, so he's used to punching up and that sense of distance.

Eraserhead wrote: He used to handle Valuev very easily back in the day, so he's used to punching up and that sense of distance.

is that true? Interesting. Half the battle for these guys seems getting past the indimidation factor.

Does anyone think that Vitali is taking on the harder opponents that Wladimir?
Maybe protecting his younger brother.

Old bones Ian wrote:Does anyone think that Vitali is taking on the harder opponents that Wladimir?
Maybe protecting his younger brother.

Wlad is fighting Eddie Chambers next March who I think is a better Heavyweight than Johnson and it could also be argued that Chagaev[Wlad fought] is a trickier opponent than Arreola[Vitali fought] so I wouldn't nessecarily agree with you Ian.