Vitali Klitschko hung up his gloves in 2012, leaving the sport of boxing as a champion. As a two-time title holder, he was only bested twice in his career.

Klitschko suffered a shock loss to Chris Byrd in 2000, ending his first reign as champion. Then, his first attempt to become a two-time belt holder was prevented by Lennox Lewis.

With Klitschko losing to Lewis via TKO in 2003, the Ukrainian began to work his way back towards a title. To do this, he had to face a top contender in the division.

Klitschko’s loss to Lewis was just his second of his career, leaving him with a record of 32-2. However, the Ukrainian was still considered a top contender in the division despite his loss to one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

This meant that in his returning bout, he would take on heavyweight contender Kirk Johnson.

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Johnson had a professional record of 34-1-1. His sole loss came in a failed title attempt, where he was disqualified for repeated low blows. However, he was still considered to be a worthy title challenger at the time.