American Boxer Who Wore Putin T-Shirts and Changed Name Becomes Russian Citizen

Russian citizenship has been granted to American professional boxer Kevin Johnson (45), who has shown respect to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On the 9th (local time), the Russian Legal Information Portal announced that President Putin had signed a presidential decree granting Russian citizenship to Johnson.

Previously, Johnson had publicly appealed to President Putin for citizenship in April of the preceding year, openly expressing his desire to live in Russia.

In August last year, he also made a weight measurement at a boxing tournament in Moscow, Russia, wearing a T-shirt with a large portrait of President Putin and the colors of the Russian flag.

In honor of President Putin, he also changed his name to Kevin Vladimirovich and declared, “Now I am 100%, no joke, 100% Russian.”

It was known that he had already applied for Russian citizenship in September last year.

Johnson, a heavyweight professional boxer from New Jersey, USA, with a career of over 20 years, has a record of 60 matches, 36 wins (20 KO wins), 2 draws, and 22 losses. He has lost matches against world-class boxers such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

In addition, President Putin also granted citizenship to Canadian ice hockey player Brendan Leipsic (30) on the same day. Leipsic is a famous ice hockey player who has scored 59 points (16 goals and 43 assists) in 187 games in the NHL. After being driven out of the Washington Capitals due to misogynistic remarks in 2020, he moved to the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia and is currently playing for SKA St. Petersburg.

He wrote President Putin a letter requesting Russian citizenship in July last year.

Russia has previously granted citizenship to famous figures who have publicly supported Russia, such as American actor Steven Seagal and French actor Gerard Depardieu.

By. Jong Ho Lee