Kirk Johnson

Kirk Cyron Johnson (born June 29, 1972) is a Canadian retired professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2010, and challenged once for the WBA heavyweight title in 2002.

Johnson represented Canada at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where he lost in the quarter-finals against eventual silver medallist David Izon (Nigeria).

Highlights

His amateur record was 76 wins and 7 losses.

Johnson had his first professional bout on April 24, 1993, against Andre Smiley.

In his first title fight in 2002 Johnson faced John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight Title. In the tenth round Johnson was disqualified for low blows while losing on all of the judges' scorecards. Johnson appealed the disqualification to the WBA, on the grounds that referee Joe Cortez had erred in calling some of the low blows and did not act impartially (both Ruiz and Cortez are of Puerto Rican descent). Though many boxing commentators agreed that the disqualification was unwarranted, the appeal was ultimately denied by the WBA.

On December 6, 2003, Johnson faced the Ukrainian contender and future champion Vitali Klitschko in New York's Madison Square Garden. He was easily defeated by Klitschko, losing by a second-round knockout.

Johnson compounded the Klitschko embarrassment by coming into this fight at 260 pounds — an all-time high for him. Johnson weighed 232 pounds in his biggest win, over future WBC Heavyweight Champion Oleg Maskayev, in 2000.

Comeback

After the Klitschko fight, Johnson staged a comeback.He knocked out Mexican heavyweight Gilbert Martinez in July 2004 and won a technical decision over Cuban Yanqui Díaz in June 2005, although he lost his next bout (later changed to a technical decision) against Californian Javier Mora in March 2006. Mora appeared to have accidentally stepped on Johnson's foot, causing Johnson to dislocate his knee. This decision was subsequently appealed and the result changed to a No Decision. Johnson has since recovered from his knee injury.

On April 29, 2010, Johnson returned to the ring after a four-year absence and fought journeyman Douglas Robertson defeating him via first-round TKO.

Johnson's record is now at 37–2–1 (27 KOs), with one No Decision.

In 2003, after dropping out of a planned fight against then-heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis because of an injury, Johnson launched a protracted legal battle against the Halifax Regional Police. During the inquiry, Johnson claimed that because of racism and racial profiling by the Halifax Regional Police he had his car stopped 28 times over five years while in Halifax. Johnson was awarded $10,000 in damages, in addition to $4,790 to cover his travel expenses. The police service was also ordered to create a scholarship in Johnson's name. It is awarded annually to a student from North Preston. Since 2003, 16 students have received awards.