via Star Boxing
WARNING: If you are waiting on the HBO airing of this fight later tonight, DO NOT click the "Continue reading" link, or enter the comments of this post. Results of the fight are after the jump.
Photo by Friedemann Vogel / Getty Images
Vitali Klitschko successfully defended his WBC heavyweight title with a virtual shutout of brash, unprepared and overmatched American Kevin Johnson today in Switzerland, easily winning his third fight of 2009 and washing out the pretender with less effort than it took for him to smoke Cristobal Arreola in September.
Klitschko (39-2, 37 KO) won on unanimous decision scores of 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109. Bad Left Hook scored it 120-108 as well.
Johnson (22-1-1, 9 KO) did become only the second man to go the distance in a loss against Vitali. Timo Hoffmann was the first, way back in the year 2000.
It was an awful performance from Johnson, who had talked huge in the pre-fight pressers and interviews, and then came out looking genuinely scared of Klitschko once the bell rang. There was even a moment in the first round when Johnson, 30, began to noticeably breathe heavy, the way you might if you were camping and heard a loud crack outside your tent at 3 in the morning.
He wanted nothing to do with Klitschko the entire fight, but that didn't stop him from gesturing, taunting, showboating and posturing. After the fight, when Wladimir Klitschko came over to congratulate Johnson on a job well done (or at least fake it), Johnson looked like he wanted to take a swing at Wladimir. What a great idea that would have been.
Johnson also visibly argued -- flat-out argued -- with his corner between several rounds as the fight progressed, getting yelled at, at one point exclaiming, "I'm not stupid!" and later turning his back while being berated by his trainer.
All in all, the night ended with us knowing one thing for sure: Kevin Johnson was greatly out of his depth against Vitali Klitschko.
Klitschko, who may well be entering the final year of what has been a great career, will probably turn around and look for a fight sometime in the spring, when his brother Wladimir is also scheduled to return to action after shoulder surgery.
As for Johnson, don't be surprised if this was the last time he works with his trainer, and if he never fights for a title again. It was a terrible performance that exposed just how unseasoned he really is, and how much experience he lacks. He could figure out nothing to do with Vitali, who intimidated him from the get-go and won every minute of the fight. It was a horrendous performance by Johnson, but part of it you can't blame him for. He just isn't good enough, and really had no business in there today.
On the undercard, former kickboxer Alexander Ustinov outpointed a shot Monte Barrett in a fight that managed to be even worse than the main event. Ustinov (19-0, 15 KO) showed no appreciable skill, only that he's very big, and Barrett was knocked down on the first good punch of the fight. But as Barrett dove and ducked the rest of the first round, Ustinov never again caught him with a solid punch, and the fight trudged on. I found a couple of rounds worth giving to Monte, and at the end scored it 117-110 for Ustinov. Official scores were similar, but my translating skills aren't so great, so I can't say for sure exactly what they were.