Kevin Johnson has faced a who’s who of heavyweights over the course of a 20-year career, including Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois and Vitali Klitschko.
JUST IN: Oleksandr Usyk Finally Names Who Will Win Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua Fight After Facing Both…
The contender-turned-journeyman managed to take Klitschko the distance in 2009 and did the same with Fury three years later, losing both via unanimous decision, before being stopped in the second round by Joshua in the Brit’s thirteenth fight, one year before he would win his first world title.
Johnson – who has moved Russia and changed his name to Kevin Vladimirovich – has also fought and lost to the likes of Daniel Dubois (UD), Martin Bakole (TKO 5) and Andy Ruiz Jr (UD). None of the men mentioned hit him harder than an Australian heavyweight known as ‘The Lionheart’ – as revealed in an interview with Sport Express.
The names of Fury, Joshua and Klitschko were put to ‘Kingpin’, but he stuck to his original answer.
“No, Alex Leapai is the physically strongest boxer I have ever met in my life. Not only in a fight – I then went back to Australia, lived there for a while, and we sparred together every day. He is powerful.”
Alex Leapai is a one-time world title challenger with 32 wins from a total of 44 fights, 25 of those coming by way of knockout. He was beaten by Johnson in 2012 after going on a run of 17 bouts undefeated. He lost via fifth round stoppage to Wladimir Klitschko two years later after a one-sided affair.
The hard-hitting Aussie was last out in 2019, a short-notice fight against former world titlist Joseph Parker in which he lost via tenth round TKO.
Anthony Joshua is preparing for one of the biggest fights of his career later this month.
Having risen to the very top of the heavyweight division in quick fashion early on in his career, Joshua has had a number of ups and downs since.
JUST IN: Oleksandr Usyk Finally Names Who Will Win Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua Fight After Facing Both…
He became a world title holder in 2016 and made successful defences against the likes of Dominic Breazeale, Alexandr Povetkin and Carlos Takam, unified against Wladimir Klitschko and Joseph Parker, then came unstuck against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 out in New York.
He avenged that loss later the same year but again lost his WBA, WBO and IBF belts on points over 12 rounds when taking on Oleksandr Uysk. The rematch went the same way in 2022 and since then Joshua has been rebuilding with four solid wins over Jermaine Franklin, Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius and most recently a devastating knockout of Francis Ngannou back in March.
He now faces current IBF champion Daniel Dubois on September 21 for his chance to come a three-time world champion.
Ahead of that he has spoken to DAZN Boxing and played the winner stays on game.
It finds him picking Muhammad Ali over all of the proposed contemporary opponents including himself, Dubois, Fury, Usyk and legends like Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko and Lennox Lewis.
After winning gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Ali turned pro and beat the likes of Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Earnie Shavers over his 61-fight campaign. The former undisputed heavyweight champion was known as ‘The Greatest’ and left his mark not just on boxing but on history and politics.
TERENCE CRAWFORD makes his highly-anticipated return to the ring TONIGHT in a thrilling world title clash against Israil Madrimov.
Bud hasn’t laced up his gloves since an emphatic 9th-round TKO victory against bitter rival Errol Spence last summer.
However, Crawford will be determined to keep his undefeated streak going by winning the world title even after moving up to 154lbs for tonight’s thrilling fight.
Before the main event, Andy Ruiz Jr’s eagerly anticipated bout with Jarrell Miller was controversially scored as a majority draw after 12 brutal rounds.