Tyson Fury dominates Kevin Johnson in heavyweight title elimination bout

British heavyweight hopeful Tyson Fury was supposed to have been tested by American veteran Kevin Johnson when the two met in the ring in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Dec. 1, but Fury would have probably gotten more of a workout hitting the heavy bag for 12 rounds. In fact, many people think that’s exactly what he did since Johnson didn’t put up any resistance at all and barely threw more than a handful of punches in each lethargic round. The unanimous decision for Fury was a foregone conclusion as soon as the bell rang to end the fight and he took it by scores of 119-108, 119-108, and 119-110.

The unbeaten Fury is now 20 -0 with 14 Kos while the 33-year-old Johnson sees his record fall to 28-3-1 with 13 Kos. Fury inched closer to a fight with Vitali Klitschko, the WBC heavyweight champion, as the bout with Johnson was billed as some type of elimination contest. If Johnson had any defense at all for his brutal performance it would have been the fact that he took the fight against Fury just three weeks ago and had a short training camp. However, when you’re a professional boxer and you’re opponent is throwing punches at you it’s just natural that you’d throw something back.

Johnson threw the occasional jab and overhand right and was effective when he did. If he actually put an effort into it there was a good chance he could have won the bout. However, it was such a feeble performance that the fans at the Odyssey Arena booed throughout many of the lackluster rounds. Johnson’s main claim to fame was that he went the entire 12 rounds with Klitschko in 2009, but other than that he hasn’t really accomplished much in the heavyweight division. He seems to be too nice of a guy to throw punches for a living.

His best round was the seventh, but after starting it well he ran out of gas and Fury took over. Fury didn’t look too bad, but it’s easy to look good against an opponent who isn’t fighting back. In fact, many in the crowd felt he should have gone for a knockout since Johnson allowed him to score at will. Johnson said after the bout that the 24-year-old Fury is a legitimate contender and has the skills to beat both of the Klitschko brothers. However, most boxing fans will take that statement with a grain of salt.

Johnson claimed that Fury punches harder than Vitali Klitschko and is an intelligent boxer. He added that he will also get better and should be able to win a world title sometime in 2013. Most fans believes a legitimate test first before stepping into the ring with a world champion. He sure didn’t get it from
Johnson, so he might end up facing fellow Briton David Price, who’s undefeated at 15-0 with 13 Kos.

Fury said he can only beat the opponents put in front of him, but he won’t really develop as a boxer if he keeps facing C-rated boxers. He claims he would have knocked Johnson out if Johnson had shown that he wanted to fight.

Ian Palmer

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