Kingpin skittled by Klitschko

Vitali Klitschko retained his WBC heavyweight title with a laborious points victory against over-matched American Kevin Johnson.

Klitschko may have dominated from the outset but found it difficult to land clean shots and the manner of his win will do little to silence WBA champion David Haye, who will undoubtedly step up his clamour for a unification fight in 2010.

Johnson entered the ring to the sound of Michael Jackson's 'Man In The Mirror' and the American will need to change his ways after a dismal performance in Switzerland.

The 30-year-old talked the talk before the fight and continued to do so during it, beckoning the Ukrainian in as Klitschko claimed the centre of the ring from the opening bell.

Johnson appeared wracked with nerves throughout the first three minutes as Klitschko adopted his infamously robotic posture, throwing several times more punches than his opponent.

Workrate

The American flashed out the occasional jab but despite being marked around the right eye it was his marauding 38-year-old opponent who held a clear lead at halfway as Klitschko's workrate left 'Kingpin' panting for breath.

If Johnson had a gameplan it must have been to hope Klitschko would burn himself out in the later rounds, but the champion soon extinguished that possibility with a dominant eighth round that left the American looking demoralised.

And the previously unbeaten Johnson clearly had little else to bring to the table, continuing to adopt a defensive stance which made the bravado of his pre-fight demeanour all the more absurd.

The open scorecards predictably had the champion miles ahead when they were announced to the crowd before the ninth and he continued to dominate, although was not impressed by Johnson's showboating at the end of the 11th and into the final session.

The American may be only the second fighter to take Klitschko the distance but there was little else for the Atlanta-based boxer to be proud of, not least an unseemly face-off at the final bell.

Unusual

The final cards revealed victory by a margin of 120-108 twice and 119-109 as Klitschko's record moved to 39-2 with Johnson slipping to 22-1 and out of the title reckoning.

"He is a very unusual fighter, he moves very well," the champion told Sky Sports afterwards. "It was 12 rounds, but i'm not happy because I prepared to knock him out, but it was so difficult.

"He had a very sneaky style and was very defensive (although) I had a feeling I won all 12 rounds.

"My style is difficult to fight, but he didn't come, he moved away and I waited for him to smash more sharp work, but always defence.

"It will be very interesting to fight Haye, but let's see. I'm ready to fight him for a unification in the spring."