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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LPS5 who wrote (2492)	3/28/2001 11:44:02 PM
From: LPS5	Respond to of 10489

Johnson left waiting again: circumstance keeps boxer idle By MONTY MOSHER -- Halifax Herald Kirk Johnson's patience is a little strained. With the momentum evaporated from his stunning October victory over Oleg Maskaev, the 28-year-old undefeated heavyweight boxer from North Preston, NS, awaits the call that will get him back on the road to a world championship fight and a multi-million dollar purse. But the phone isn't ringing very often at his Texas residence. Contacted on the weekend, Johnson said he hopes to fight somebody April 18 in Virginia, but there is no opponent set and he has no details. For the 30-0-1 Johnson, it wouldn't be a big fight in any case. "I'm very tired of (sitting around)," said Johnson, who trains in Fort Worth. Johnson, the author of 21 career knockouts, is in pro boxing purgatory these days. He has too much at stake to risk his unbeaten record on hungry up-and-comers and the division's upper classmen, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, aren't much interested in facing him. The former Canadian Olympian admits to fretting about his predicament a couple of months back. He's calmer about the whole situation now. Beating Maskaev was supposed to be Johnson's ticket to riches. Las Vegas oddsmakers made him a sizable underdog against the heavy-hitter from the New York suburbs, but Johnson had him under control after the first round and put him away with some warrior spirit in the fourth. During the preliminaries to the Maskaev bout, Johnson said the World Boxing Association promised the winner the first crack at Holyfield's title belt. HBO, the U.S. cable giant, promised the winner a lucrative contract for several fights. But neither materialized. The WBA left the No. 1 challenger slot vacant and Johnson at No. 2, thereby allowing Johnny Ruiz to move up to fight Holyfield in a rematch in early March without having to compensate Johnson for passing him over. Ruiz won the bout. "I've never seen the No. 1 spot vacant before when there is somebody eligible for the No. 1 spot," said Johnson. Johnson's management has protested to the WBA that Johnson deserved to be the No. 1 challenger to Holyfield and now deserves the next championship shot at Ruiz. However, there is already banter about Holyfield-Ruiz III with nary a mention of Johnson. Johnson has all but completed a new contract to remain with the management duo of Ken Lilien and Chris Seeger. The details haven't been finalized, but Johnson said he is staying with the New York-New Jersey tandem. Now eight years in the pro ranks, Johnson knows patience is the paramount virtue. He sat idle for nearly a year in 1997-98 while negotiating a promotional contract with New York's Cedric Kushner. "I'm not going to say I am frustrated because I went through this before," he said. "All I have to do is what I have been doing and that's keep on winning. It's business now. It's more business than fighting at this stage. "There's so much politics out there. We've got to make sure that when we do fight, we don't get sold cheap." He said he will be ready when that day comes. "I'm the only undefeated top-five heavyweight in the world. Every time we have had to step up we've been successful. We did (Dannell) Nicholson, we did Al Cole, we did Oleg. Every time somebody has given us opportunities to do what we had to do, we did it. "We've proved ourselves. Now they just need to give us the big shot - the heavyweight championship of the world." He won't sell the right to take his undefeated record for less than a fair price. He thinks if he gets a shot at Lewis, that would mean at least $4 million US. "You've got to do the business the right way," he said. "I'm only going to come this way once. All you (media) guys like me and I'm a nice guy, but if I retire and I don't have any money, then I didn't take care of business. "Lennox has taken care of his business. Too many fighters retire broke. When I retire I don't want anybody feeling sorry for me."