Kevin Johnson

[JazMerkin]

Actually, he picked Johnson & then negotiated to have him made his mandatory. No problem but he did the same with Arreola, who was also his mandatory. He wouldn't have had to take another till next September. Johnson should not have been fighting at that level & Vitali chose him for a shot, maybe to get US TV time, but he still picked a guy who just wasn't at this level. The level Johnson was where he should have been before Vitali chose him & that was a fight with a guy like Solis. He should have been beginning to fight at gatekeeper level against guys like McCline or Barrett, not fighting arguably the best Heavyweight in the world.

Guys like Boytsov, Povetkin or even Dimitrenko would have been more credible. I'm not trying to defend Haye, but I've gotta call bullshit on Vitali doing this, the strength of the division isn't the point, the fact is he picked a guy to fight, who he knew wasn't ready for his level. The funny thing is if Wlad had been the one to do it, I'm sure he'd catch all kind of shit, but Vitali being more popular gets away with it.

[El Kabong]

Vitali wanted to free up 2010 for ____ and perhaps Valuev