Adam Smith blogs from Berne as local hero Vitali Klitschko defends his crown against Kevin Johnson.
Klitschko is feted in Switzerland and firing on all cylinders
The beautiful country of Switzerland may have produced the greatest tennis player of all time in the supreme Roger Federer, but there aren't many big fights that take place in this serene part of the world.
My good friend and boxing historian, Bob Mee, dug way back to find out that in 1938, local Maurice Dubois tackled Frenchman Maurice Holtzer for the IBU featherweight belt (basically the European version of the world title) but Henry Armstrong was generally recognised at the time) in Geneva.
The short Swiss world title list features Chartchai Chionoi against Fritz Chervet for the WBA flyweight title in 1974 in Zurich; Simon Brown then took on Mauro Martelli for the IBF welterweight crown in 1988 in Lausanne; while Mark Breland met Martelli for the WBA welterweight title in 1989, in Geneva; next up was Ralf Rocchigiani tackling Stefan Angehrn for the WBO cruiserweight belt in 1997, in Zurich.
Lately, there have been a couple of heavyweight appearances from the giant Russian Nikolai Valuev in Switzerland; firstly against Jameel McCline for the WBA title in 2007 in Basel, and then Evander Holyfield for the same belt, last year in Zurich.
Yet, never before has the charming, medieval city of Bern hosted a world title encounter.
Nestled in the foothills of the snowy Alps, lies the stunning Swiss capital. I can't wax lyrical enough about how gorgeous this place is. Not since a trip to Budapest have I been as impressed by a European city. It is quite enchanting - especially at this festive time of year.
There are a fascinating mixture of dialects as the cultures of France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany all blend. The pronounciation of Bern (or Berne as it is sometimes spelt back home) here is usually like Bairn - partly because of the German influence, and partly because of the famous bears who used to frequent the area.
Festive
The wild creatures may have been replaced by replicas in a delicious chocolatey variety, but there are a couple of boxing beasts roaming around town and firing up the festive spirits this week!
Ukrainian giant Vitali Klitschko has always wanted to showcase his skills in Switzerland. For so long, Vitali and his younger brother Wladimir have been based in neighbouring Germany.
The Klitschkos - who are the first brothers to hold world heavyweight belts at the same time - have been phenomenal for our sport. Bright, articulate, intelligent and multi-lingual, they fit right into the Swiss scene here. They are terrific role models to the youngsters, and always spend time with their legions of fans. There has been a real family feel to the promotion here for Vitali's WBC Heavyweight title defence.
Yet there is serious business for the elder Kiltschko to take care of. Despite more grey specks appearing in his hair, the 38-year-old has been revving up his career of late.
After Vitali clinically dismantled poor Danny Williams in 2004, he retired from boxing, largely due to a variety of injuries, as he turned his hand to politics in the Ukraine. But he returned to the sport he so badly missed. Despite four years of inactivity, he's been looking sensational again.
Klitschko won back his WBC title by crushing Samuel Peter, and his two subsequent defences against Juan Carlos Gomez and Chris Arreola were as one-sided and emphatic.
Unbeaten
He is firing on all cylinders and is fighting regularly again. The Arreola performance was just 11 weeks ago, and now he must attempt to fend off another unbeaten American.
Kevin Johnson is little-known and rather unheralded. The friendly Georgian has slowly built up a useful 23 fight record out of the spotlight. I have seen Johnson a couple of times, and been quietly impressed. He has a good reach, a very quick jab, and decent combinations.
The big worry is his lack of genuine world-class power. Yes, he stopped an over-the-hill Bruce Seldon and the amateur star Devin Vargas, but this is a huge step up from that.
Unlike his talented but more vulnerable brother, Vitali has been blessed with an iron chin. He is also a very difficult man to shift. Only two fighters have ever beaten him and both were because of injury.
Vitali was ahead on points against Chris Byrd, but was forced to retire with a shoulder problem; then a nasty cut unfortunately curtailed that thriller with Lennox Lewis. Our British heavyweight legend called it a day after that, which proves how tough it had been.
Vitali Klitschko's so experienced and so powerful (37 knockouts in his 38 wins) that it's hard to see him being turned over here.
Matched
Kevin 'Kingpin' Johnson predicts a passing of the torch - and of course heavyweight history has been littered with upsets. Kevin is very charismatic, and has been lighting up the pre-fight week with his smile, and extremely bold predictions. Boy, can this challenger talk!
Time for Johnson to prove he can walk the walk. The skilful man from Atlanta has been matched kindly and may have a padded record, but I don't envisage him being blown away like poor Dmitriy Salita was by the sizzling fists of Amir Khan.
I think Johnson might give the slightly robotic and ageing Klitschko more trouble than people think with his speed. Yet it's a hard ask for Johnson to do this consistently over 36 minutes. Everything points to Vitali retaining his WBC belt in the latter half of the fight.
Our very own WBA champion David Haye will be hoping for a Klitschko victory. Despite pulling out of possible meetings with both brothers this year (sensible decisions in hindsight), Haye is keen to meet them in 2010.
It's been good to hear Vitali suggesting he fancies the big clash with Haye too. There are scores to settle and great fights lie ahead... but only if Klitschko makes a sweet defence first in this chocolate box city.
