Klitschko Beats Johnson

Klitschko delivers a right punch to Johnson's face

WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KOs) scored a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Kevin Johnson (22-1-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night at the PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland.

Vitali pressed the action and threw most of the power punches, but had trouble catching the crafty Johnson cleanly.

Johnson was essentially a one-armed fighter as he relied almost exclusively on his jab.

Klitschko became more dominant as the bout progressed, with the late rounds going all Vitali's way.

Scores were 120-108, 120-108, 119-109.
Johnson became only the second fighter to go the full twelve with Vitali, the other being Timo Hoffmann.

In another development, former light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton has given hints that he might stage a comeback in 2010.

“The manner in which I ended my defeat (to Pacquiao) is not really the way I would like to bow out,” Hatton said.

“I'd like to bow out like Kostya did in an absolute war of a fight, a wonderful fight with great sportsmanship. I would be surprised if Kostya made a comeback. He is around the 40 mark now and he doesn't need to (come back).”

Tszyu returns on Saturday from a trip to his birth country of Russia and Hatton said he would be disappointed not to meet “the great man” before leaving Australia. Asked what he recalled of his fight with Tszyu, Hatton quipped, “a lot of pain”.

He regarded the win as the best of his career.
“To beat the universally undisputed champion as Kostya was recognized and I think he was number two pound-for-pound in the world,” he said. “If you look through the light welterweights through history, there's not too many who have done what Kostya has done.”