Undefeated Johnson gets right to the point

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 25, 2002 | 9:14 a.m.

It isn't as if he has memorized his answers or is reading from a script. But no matter how a question is phrased to Kirk Johnson, he inevitably streamlines his response to emphasize a point.

"I'm know I'm going to win the fight," he routinely says, when asked about his Saturday bout with World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John Ruiz at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

"I'm going to do my best," he reiterated Wednesday. "And I'm going to come out of the fight as the only undefeated heavyweight champion."

Though he remains relatively unknown, Johnson comes into the fight with a record of 32-0-1 and 23 knockouts and with the support of the betting populace. He's a minus 230 favorite in the sports book at Mandalay Bay, with Ruiz, despite his status as the reigning champion, up as a plus 190 underdog.

Ruiz is 37-4-1 with 27 KOs.

Each man exudes confidence, with Johnson bolstered by never having lost a professional fight.

"I'm undefeated and I planned it this way," he said. "I know what it takes to win and I've prepared accordingly."

A native of North Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada, Johnson is 30 and a healthy 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds. He has not, however, had a fight in more than a year, or since he took a decision over fellow contender Larry Donald 12 months ago in New York.

"Maybe that makes me a little more anxious, but I'll be ready," Johnson said. "It wasn't as if I wasn't training most of that time."

Proposed fights with Shannon Briggs, Chris Byrd and, earlier, one with Ruiz before he broke his jaw, fell through and kept Johnson inactive. But no one in his camp seems worried.

"I don't see any difference," said co-trainer Lou Duva. "I like everything I see with Kirk and everything's flowing smoothly.

"Of all the heavyweights, he has the best legs and the best lateral movement. He's really developed over the last 10 years."

Duva has had Johnson as an on-and-off pupil for a decade, or since Johnson showed up at one of his camps as a Canadian Olympic team member.

"You could tell he was a good prospect even then," Duva said. "Now he gets to fight for the heavyweight championship and I'm pretty sure he's going to win. I feel real good about him."

Duva's son, Dino, signed Johnson to a promotional agreement last year that came with a $1 million bonus. He has said his company, Duva Boxing, has a great deal at stake with this fight and a victory by Johnson may be crucial to its solvency.

Johnson will receive $1 million for this fight, with Ruiz being paid $1.5 million.

The Mandalay Bay Events Center will be set up to seat 8,500 and a crowd of approximately 6,500 is expected.

"One thing about it," Lou Duva said. "There's no trash talk between these guys and they're both good men. They could call this a fight for the heavyweight championship of sainthood."

Toward that idyllic notion, Johnson has nothing even remotely derogatory to say about Ruiz.

"I know some people look down on him for losing (in 19 seconds) to David Tua," he said. "But I never looked at that fight and never will. It was a fluke and it doesn't say anything about John Ruiz.

"He's an underrated fighter and a worthy champion."

Johnson and Ruiz have fought only two men in common, with each dispatching of journeyman Nathaniel Fitch but Ruiz having lost to Danell Nicholson. Johnson beat the latter by decision, yet he sees that as inconsequential.

"It was a long time ago," he said of Ruiz's 1994 loss. "I don't think it does anything for me."

It has also been that long since Johnson has fought in Las Vegas, which is certainly an oddity for a man who has risen to become the WBA's mandatory challenger. Of his 33 previous fights, only three have been held here: his first two, in 1993, on Top Rank cards, and vs. Tyrone Evans on the George Foreman vs. Michael Moorer card Nov. 5, 1994.

"You might not have seen that one," Johnson says, smiling. "It was at 3:30 in the afternoon and I think it opened the show."

Johnson won that fight by knockout and he has had his way with everyone he has faced, excluding a draw with former cruiserweight champ Al Cole in 1998. Johnson was saddled with the loss of three points in that bout, each called by the referee for a low blow.

He avenged that minor setback by taking a decision over Cole the following year, and he has since beaten Rodolfo Martin, Marcus Johnson, Oleg Maskaev, Derrick Banks and, most recently, Donald.

"Not fighting in Las Vegas had nothing to do with me," Johnson said. "I wish I would have, but my promoter (Cedric Kushner) at the time had me fighting on the East Coast.

"But it's a great feeling to be fighting here now."

With a victory, Johnson will not only grab the WBA crown but will position himself for a fight with WBC and IBF champion Lennox Lewis.

"Everybody keeps asking me about Lennox, but I don't really have anything to say," Johnson said. "I can't worry about that."

He has limited his focus to Ruiz, at the expense of telling his camp members he doesn't want to hear about Lewis.

"I expect a hard fight from John Ruiz," Johnson said. "That's my only concern right now."

As for the possibility of becoming a heavyweight champion at something of a belated age, Johnson is taking a historical perspective.

"Larry Holmes didn't win his title until he was 29," he said, "and then he held it for seven years. I hope to do the same."

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