On December 6, 2003, a 31-year-old Kirk Johnson (34-1-1, 25 KOs) and a 32-year-old Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko (32-2, 31 KOs) met in the ring.
Johnson came in to the fight on a 2-fight win streak with a 69% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 8 months and 21 days. Klitschko was on a -1-fight win streak with a 91% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 5 months and 15 days.
Vitali Klitschko stopped Kirk Johnson via TKO in the 2nd round. Klitschko improves his record to 33-2 (32 KOs), while Johnson adds a loss to his record at 34-2-1.
On July 27, 2002, a 30-year-old Kirk Johnson (32-0-1, 23 KOs) got a shot at the heavyweight WBA title held by 30-year-old American boxer John Ruiz (37-4-1, 27 KOs).
Johnson came in to the fight on a 6-fight win streak with a 69% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 year and 20 days. Ruiz was on a 0-fight win streak with a 64% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 7 months and 12 days.
John Ruiz defeated Kirk Johnson via disqualification and successfully defended his WBA heavyweight title. Ruiz improves his record to 38-4-1, while Johnson adds a loss to his record at 32-1-1.