In a WBC heavyweight
eliminator, Tyson Fury (20-0, 14 KOs) boxed and punched his way to a
unanimous 12-round decision over American Kevin Johnson (28-3 13 KOs) at
the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Fury
came out aggressively in the opening stanza. He didn’t land anything of
substance, but he did get Johnson’s attention. Johnson, with his left
hand low, ate some jabs and studied Fury.
In
round two, the 6’9” Fury continued to beat Johnson to the punch.
Johnson stalked but did little else. He needed to get under the long jab
of Fury. He landed an inside right that Fury ignored.
The
fighters met in the center of the ring in round three. Fury went to the
body and head of Johnson. He switched to southpaw halfway through the
round. Johnson tried to land an overhand right but caught air. Fury
landed an inside uppercut. Johnson still wasn’t doing enough. He looked
sluggish and disinterested.
Fury
kept up his activity in round four. Johnson, his hands high, kept
leaning on Fury, but not punching. His chin had withstood some strong
punches. His work rate was still disappointing. The pro Fury crowd booed
at the end of the round.
Johnson,
32, finally landed a hard combination to the body in round five. He
also landed a right hand. Fury popped Johnson with his jab. A chopping
right did no damage.
In
round six, Fury, 24, landed a three punch combination that knocked
Johnson back. Johnson, who went the distance with Vitali Klitschko,
took Fury’s punches. His beard is solid. He landed a sneaky right, but
looked tired at the end of the round.
Fury
backed Johnson up round seven. His jab snapped back the head of
Johnson. Fury was penalized a point for punching on the break. Johnson
dangled his left hand. The move was reminiscent of the late former
heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. He probably wished he had some of
Liston's power.
Johnson
was stung by a Fury combination in the first minute of round eight.
Fury was boxing effectively. The Belfast slugger was more boxer than
banger. This writer had Fury winning seven of the first eight rounds.
Fury moved and boxed in round nine. His conditioning was impressive.
Johnson stalked but did little else.
In
round 10, Fury landed two long left hooks. A hard combination made
Johnson smile. Johnson wanted Fury to stand in front of him fight. Fury
did at times, but with control.
The
last two rounds were a continuation of the previous 10. Fury keep
jabbing and punching. Johnson was clearly frustrated. His limitations
were obvious.
Scores were 119-110, 119-108, and 119-108.
“This
guy (Johnson) is a world class fighter,” said Fury after the fight. “I
wanted to box because I didn’t think I could knock him out.”
Follow and visit John on Twitter: twitter.com/#!/johnboxing1
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Questions/comments johnboxing1@hotmail.com
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