Kevin Vladimirovich Johnson (born September 7, 1979) is an American-Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2023. He challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2009. He holds notable wins over former world champions Bruce Seldon and Yoan Pablo Hernández.

Amateur career Johnson started boxing at the age of 18, Johnson was trained by coach Victor Lashley . He was an unheralded amateur with only a 14–2 record but won the New Jersey Golden Gloves.

Professional career Early career He turned pro in 2002. After only three fights he fought an undefeated Olympian in Timur Ibragimov, who already had 13 victories holding him 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 won a shutout decision. He was regarded by some 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. Johnson defeated 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. With the win, Johnson earned a shot at the world title.

WBC heavyweight title challenge Johnson vs. Klitschko On December 12, 2009 Johnson took on Vitali Klitschko for the WBC Heavyweight title in Bern, Switzerland. Klitschko was never troubled by Johnson in front of an 18,000-strong crowd. The previously unbeaten Johnson was unable to land his trademark jab on the 6 ft 7in Vitali, and went on to lose every round of the contest to the Ukrainian.

After the loss to Klitschko, Johnson racked up victories against Charles Davis and Julius Long, before signing up for in Eddie Hearn's Prizefighter tournament in the UK during which he lost in the final against Tor Hamer. Johnson would settle in a gatekeeper role after the tournament, dropping decisions to Tyson Fury, Christian Hammer, Manuel Charr and Derek Chisora, but beating Solomon Haumono.

On May 30, 2015, Johnson lost to undefeated Anthony Joshua by second-round knockout, after having been knocked down twice in the first round. This was Johnson's first stoppage loss. Johnson announced his retirement from boxing after the loss to Joshua.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:

He returned in 2017 with a points win over journeyman Jamal Woods and later challenged Kubrat Pulev for the WBA Inter-Continental title. Despite being outboxed from the start, he managed to take Pulev 12 rounds. Johnson lost a unanimous decision 120–108, 120–108, and 119–109.

On October 14, 2017, Johnson beat Francesco Pianeta via technical knockout in the seventh round.

After three consecutive losses following his Pianeta victory, Johnson recorded his 33rd and 34th wins against Haris Radmilovic, with a pair of third-round technical knockout victories both coming against Radmilovic in December 2018.

Five consecutive losses later, Johnson scored a seventh-round knockout victory against former IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernández on August 22, 2020.

The following year, Johnson returned to the ring on June 5, 2021, to face undefeated Agit Kabayel. Johnson suffered the 18th loss of his career, losing a unanimous decision with scores of 118–111, 118–111, and 119–110.

He lost to Mark Petrovskii via majority decision over six rounds in Moscow, Russia, on August 18, 2023.

Personal life In 2023 he settled in Samara, Russia, and in January 2024 he was granted Russian citizenship. He also declared that he will use 'Vladimirovich' as his patronymic to honor Vladimir Putin.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes60LossMark Petrovskii6Aug 18, 202359Win36–21–2Aydin YildirimTKO5 (8), Apr 8, 202358Draw35–21–2Andre Bunga8Sep 24, 202257Loss35–21–1Victor VykhrystPTS8Aug 27, 202256Loss35–20–1Ihor ShevadzutskyiPTS8Aug 13, 202255Loss35–19–1Ali Eren DemirezenUD8May 28, 202254Loss35–18–1Agit KabayelUD12Jun 5, 202153Win35–17–1Yoan Pablo HernándezKO7 (8), Aug 22, 202052Loss34–17–1Mariusz WachUD10Jun 12, 2020 51Loss34–16–1Martin BakoleTKO5 (8), Oct 19, 2019 50Loss34–15–1Oleksandr ZakhozhyiUD8Oct 11, 2019 49Loss34–14–1Shigabudin AlievUD10Jul 22, 2019 48Loss34–13–1Nathan GormanPTS10Mar 23, 2019 47Win34–12–1Haris RadmilovićTKO3 (8), Dec 22, 201846Loss33–12–1Filip HrgovićUD8Dec 8, 201845Win33–11–1Haris RadmilovićTKO3 (8), Dec 1, 201844Loss32–11–1Daniel Dubois10Oct 6, 201843Loss32–10–1Andy Ruiz Jr.UD10Jul 7, 201842Loss32–9–1Petar MilasTKO8 (10), Mar 10, 201841Win32–8–1Francesco PianetaTKO7 (10), Oct 14, 201740Win31–8–1Engin Solmaz2 (6), Aug 26, 201739Loss30–8–1Kubrat PulevUD12Apr 28, 201738Win30–7–1Terrell Jamal WoodsUD6Mar 11, 201737Loss29–7–1Anthony JoshuaTKO2 (10), May 30, 201536Loss29–6–1Manuel CharrUD10Apr 12, 201435Loss29–5–1Derek ChisoraUD12Feb 15, 201434Loss29–4–1Christian HammerUD10Dec 20, 201333Win29–3–1Solomon HaumonoKO10 (12), Apr 28, 201332Loss28–3–1Tyson FuryUD12Dec 1, 201231Loss28–2–1Tor HamerUD3Jun 20, 201230Win28–1–1Albert Sosnowski3Jun 20, 201229Win27–1–1Noureddine MeddounTKO1 (3), Jun 20, 201228Win26–1–1Alex LeapaiTKO9 (12), Apr 1, 201227Win25–1–1Harold SconiersTKO1 (6), Jun 25, 201126Win24–1–1Julius LongUD8Jan 22, 201125Win23–1–1Charles DavisKO4 (8), Oct 29, 201024Loss22–1–1Vitali KlitschkoUD12Dec 12, 200923Win22–0–1Devin VargasTKO6 (10), May 15, 200922Win21–0–1Matthew GreerTKO3 (10), Nov 7, 200821Win20–0–1Bruce SeldonTKO5 (10), Sep 5, 200820Win19–0–1Terry SmithUD10Apr 18, 200819Win18–0–1Jermell BarnesUD8Dec 5, 200718Win17–0–1Andrew GreeleyUD6Nov 9, 200717Win16–0–1Damian WillsUD10Aug 3, 200716Win15–0–1Ron GuerreroUD8Jun 9, 200715Win14–0–1Curtis TaylorKO1 (6)Mar 29, 200714Win13–0–1Charles DavisUD10Dec 8, 200613Win12–0–1Michael RhodesUD6Nov 10, 200612Win11–0–1Demetrice KingUD6Oct 11, 200611Win10–0–1Daniel BispoUD10Jun 10, 200610Win9–0–1Robert HawkinsUD8Mar 31, 20069Win8–0–1Robert KooserTKO1 (6), Jan 27, 20068Win7–0–1William CookUD8Jan 8, 20057Win6–0–1Karl EvansTKO1 (6), Nov 6, 20046Win5–0–1Robert WigginsUD8Sep 30, 20045Win4–0–1DeSean HarperTKO4 (6)Jul 28, 20044Draw3–0–1Timur Ibragimov4Jun 17, 20043Win3–0Elfair McKnight4Jul 13, 20032Win2–0William Bolar1 (4)Apr 24, 20031Win1–0Stanford Brisbone4 (4), Feb 13, 2003

Exhibition boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes1Win1–0Viacheslav Datsik3Mar 31, 2023

Viewership

Germany

Date Fight Billing Viewership () Network Source(s)Vitali Klitschko vs. Kevin JohnsonRTL Television Total viewership 11,160,000

References

External links