“I have about 15 to 20 T-shirts with the Russian flag and Putin.” Kevin Johnson waiting for a Russian passport

On April 1, immediately after his victory over Vyacheslav Datsik, American Kevin Johnson addressed the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin with a request to obtain citizenship. The former WBC heavyweight contender didn’t think about his middle name at all – Vladimirovich. Since then, Johnson received a license from the Russian Boxing Federation, he fought with Mark Petrovsky, Maxim Babanin, but Johnson never received a passport. According to the promoter Vladimir Khryunov, the issue of citizenship has been resolved positively, it remains only to wait for the receipt of the document. But the main question is when this will happen. While deadlines are constantly being pushed back.

Nevertheless, Johnson already considers himself a Russian. In August, Johnson, while speaking with , explained his love for Russia in three words. We now asked Johnson a few more questions about our country.

From this interview you can learn:

“PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF WHAT MAY EXPECT THEM UPON RETURN FROM RUSSIA”

— Kevin, you constantly appear in public in clothes with the image of the Russian tricolor and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. Tell me, how many similar T-shirts do you have?

— Around 15-20 (smiling). I like. When I drive through them, many people honk at me from their cars. That’s wonderful.

— When will you officially become a Russian citizen?

“I’m already Russian and I should get my passport any day now.”

— How do your friends react to the decision to obtain Russian citizenship?

– They like my decision. All my life I have been different from others. I do something, and then people understand why I did it. I’m not a big fan of words, I’m a man of action. Even those close to me don’t know much about me because I don’t talk much. It’s my life, and I’m the writer, director and lead actor.

— What can you say to people who are afraid of coming to Russia?

— No one is afraid to come to Russia. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here, like many others who come here. People are afraid of what awaits them when they return to the United States from Russia. They may have problems. They will ask you questions: why did you go there, what business did you have there, who did you communicate with there? Who likes to be questioned when they come home? Therefore, many simply do not want to experience all this, but they are certainly not afraid to come here. And I am living proof.

“PEACE AND TRUE FREEDOM ARE BETTER IN RUSSIA”

— Compare life in the United States and Russia.

– Well, some things are better in the United States, but when it comes to peace and real freedom, I will choose Russia. I recently went to Dubai, Oman, Bahrain and now I arrived in Russia and I want to say that Moscow is very clean. There are no gobies or trash on the ground. It’s just unrealistic here. People even clean up their dogs’ poop, so you develop good habits here. So if I go to the USA, I will continue to do it there too.

— Evaluate the level of security in Russia.

– I’m not worried about security. If you want problems, you will find them everywhere. But no one is looking for them here. I have visited many regions of Russia.

— Would any of your friends want to follow your example and settle in Russia, for example?

— Many of my friends want to come here, but the problem is that they usually immediately fly to some Thailand from here. But you can’t come to Russia for 4-5 days – you won’t have time to see anything. In 5 days you can more or less explore Moscow, nothing more. Well, what about St. Petersburg, Samara, Chekhov, Chelyabinsk and other cities ?!

Johnson, 44, has fought opponents such as Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz, Martin Bakole, Daniel Dubois, Derek Chisora, Manuel Charr and many others throughout his career.

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