JOHNSON TO HAVE KNEE SURGERY THIS WEEK - OUT FOR 4-8 MONTHS

BoxingTalk:  Kirk, what is the latest on your knee injury?

Kirk Johnson:  It is severely swollen, and I will be having surgery in the next 4-5 days.

BoxingTalk:  What is the diagnosis of your knee injury?

Kirk Johnson:  I don’t know the medical term, but something is torn, and it will take be 4 to 8 months to recover.

BoxingTalk:  What I saw on Friday was that Javier Mora stepped on your foot causing you to fall and injuring your knee.  Can you describe any more detail to how you injured you knee?

Kirk Johnson:  It was just what you said.  He stepped on my foot, I tried to get my balance, but instead I fell, and I couldn’t get back up.  I was laying there looking at my knee, thinking there is no way I can get up with my knee looking like that.

NOTE:  Being present at ringside, it was more than apparent that something was seriously wrong with Johnson’s knee after he tripped on Mora’s foot.  It looked as though his knee cap was out of place, and it was pushing up against the skin.

BoxingTalk:  Did the injury take place when you tripped on Mora’s foot or when you fell to the canvas?

Kirk Johnson:  I don’t know.  All I know now is that it’s torn.

BoxingTalk:  Is the injury still causing you any physical pain?

Kirk Johnson:  Well, I’m on pain killers right now, so I wouldn’t know.

BoxingTalk:  Have the doctors mentioned to you about this injury being a career-ending injury?

Kirk Johnson:  They said they needed to examine it more, then they could say more after that.  I’m hoping for the best.  Hopefully the MRI comes back with good news. I was looking forward to getting in the ring again within two months, because I know that the more I’m in the ring the sharper I become.

BoxingTalk:  Before the injury, how did you feel the fight was going for you?

Kirk Johnson:  I felt good in the rest of the fight.  I felt I was I control of the fight. I was feeling I was getting stronger and stronger with each round.

BoxingTalk:  I saw the scorecards afterwards and one judge had it a draw while the other two had you in the lead by at least two points.  Do you feel Mora was tougher competition than you expected?

Kirk Johnson:  No. Like I told people, for Mora to have 19 wins with 17 KOs, he had to be a strong and determined guy.  He was trying to make a mark, and he was ready for me, but I know I was landing three to four punches for every one of his.  I don’t know what fight the judge who ruled it a draw was looking at.

BoxingTalk:  What are your thoughts about the decision to give you a TKO loss against Mora?

Kirk Johnson:  I don’t like it.  I felt the referee should have gone to the scorecards, and whoever was winning at the time should have been award the fight, just like when an accidental headbutt happens in a fight.

BoxingTalk:  There is talk that your team is appealing your TKO loss and is asking that it is reversed.  Has there been any progress regarding that since Friday?

Kirk Johnson:  We are going through the steps we need to go through right now, and the boxing rules of California are with us.  After the 4th round we go the scorecards, which means I should have won the fight.  The way I look at it is I was winning the fight, he stepped on my foot, and he gets the win.  This injury was severe enough for the fight not to continue.  I feel that if I did the same thing to Mora, then the fight would have to go to the scorecards too.

BoxingTalk:  Once you are fully recovered from this injury will you be looking for a rematch against Mora?

Kirk Johnson:  Why do I need a rematch?  I did what I had to do.  I overcame his spurts, I was winning the fight, he stepped on my foot, and then he wins the fight.

BoxingTalk:  Looking back and knowing that you have been up against tougher competition than Mora, like John Ruiz, Vitali  Klitschko, and Lou Saverese, do you now feel that you should have been more aggressive against Mora on Friday?

Kirk Johnson:  I knew I had to pace myself.  When I hit him with good shots, he recovered.  If I had gone for the knock out early, and he came back, then could have come back and tried to do the same thing to me.  This has all been an unfortunate situation, and hopefully the California officials will make the right decision and go to the scorecards to determine the winner.


 

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