EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: KEVIN JOHNSON
By G. Leon

BT:  What’s new Kingpin?  "Everything is good.  I am back and ready to make another championship run [He dropped a twelve-round decision to WBC champion Vitali Klitschko in December].  I know the mistakes I made the first time around. I am just going to make some adjustments and come back stronger and better."

BT:    What can we expect from Kevin Johnson the second time around?

KJ:   For starters, I now have the experience of going to the big dance against the best fighter in the world.   Been there, done that.  Now it is just a matter of getting in there again and winning.  Of course, the target now is WBA champion David Haye.  I understand that I have to reel a championship belt in order to get a Klitschko back in the ring.   But I know without a doubt that I would beat David Haye.  No disrespect to Haye, but believe I would stop him late.  Haye is not as dangerous as Klitschko, which is probably why we haven’t seen that fight yet.  I would love to fight David and see if he could change my opinion that Vitali is much better than him.

BT:  Assuming you can’t get a Haye fight, who would you want to fight?

KJ:   Anyone who means anything in the division.  Sam Peter, Tomas Ademak, Chris Arreola, David Tua, Nicolay Valuev.  It doesn’t matter.  I love to fight.  I want all the top contenders.  People know that I will fight anyone, anytime.

BT:  We have not seen you in action since the Klitschko bout, do you have any bouts lined up?

I have just reached an agreement with Star Boxing and I am now free to fight for other promoters, which I am going to explore.  My team has already received a few offers, but I am not sure I will jump right back into a long term deal unless it’s the right situation.  I know what I am capable of and I am confident that I am still the best American heavyweight. I will be heavyweight champion very soon.  But to answer your question, I expect to be fighting within the next few weeks. I want to be extremely active, but I will leave those details up to my brother, Brian Johnson and my advisor Mike Borao.

BT:    Did you learn anything from your fight against Vitali?

KJ:    Well, I don’t want to get hung up on the past and most people don’t know this but I sustained a very serious injury in the second round of the Klitschko fight.  I understand it wasn’t the most exciting fight but I was extremely limited with the injury but I did my best under the circumstances.  Klitschko is heads and shoulders above everybody else, literally, and I stayed in there with him injured.  The rest of the division is easy!

BT:  Any closing thoughts for the fans?

KJ:   Just thanks to my fans that follow me on www.kingpinkj.com.  Also, I appreciate their support and promise that I will deliver a heavyweight championship and that I am still the best chance American has of getting back the title.  I take the job of bringing the titles back to the USA very seriously.

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