The Boxing Barber: Kemper Johnson’s pursuits in the ring lead to state middleweight championship

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Almost every day – save for Sunday – you can find Kemper Johnson at his chair in downtown Johnson City.

“One of my mentors, his name is Craig Charles,” he said. “He was trying to get me to go to barber school like six, seven years ago.”

It took some convincing, but he finally left his landscaping business for Levels Barbershop on East Main Street.

Both jobs suited him well, as they fall right in line with his values.

“I get to help beautify the community,” he explained. “It’s my way of being a community servant. The money. Yeah, it’s good money and all that. But I would rather just beautify the community.”

That, and the barbershops hours fit better into his busy schedule.

“I wanted to free up enough time without busting my tail all day so that I could train,” he said.

Johnson first took a swing at boxing when he was a kid, but he thought it wasn’t for him.

“I didn’t want to do all the running and everything that it took,” he admitted. “I knew what it took because my family boxed.”

After some time away, he found the sport again at the age of 23, thanks to the calling of his mentor – Roy King Jr.

“He won the WBC belt, which is huge, at the age of 36. So I knew that I still had time,” Johnson said.

Even after months of training, Johnson continued to take his lumps in the ring.

“Four or five good butt-whoopings from the professionals in there,” he recalled. “I was like – maybe I’m not ready.”

But, a developed discipline kept pushing him forward, no matter the results.

“You have to go through some things in life to really get this amount of discipline, just to be this hungry,” he explained. “I don’t wish it up on anybody, honestly.”

It comes from the consistent early-morning wakeups and solitary hours spent running or training at the Beeson Hall Recreation Center. And yet, his inspiration still comes from others.

“My kids,” he said without hesitation. “Yeah, man, I have five daughters and one son all together combined between me and my wife.”

“I don’t want them to have any limits.”

As Johnson’s training continued, the wins slowly started to come. But, even then, he has very few moments inside the ring that would consider fun.

“When I say it’s not fun – now it’s business, now it’s war,” he explained. “War is not fun.”

On February 10, he traveled to Pigeon Forge and went to war for the Middleweight belt in the state of Tennessee. He defeated Coleman Doss by technical knockout (TKO) in the fifth round.

“It was a real-life movie,” Johnson recalled.

“I was literally looking around seeing if I could steal his stool so I could sit down because my legs felt weak – I was that excited,” Johnson’s health and wellness coach Shawn Dunn said. “It was one of my greatest days I’ve ever had.”

There was no party or cigar-smoking, as Johnson puts it, to celebrate the championship victory. In fact, he was almost too stunned to celebrate.

“I went straight home and I was like ‘Dang, there are some things I need to work on,'” he recalled.

Finally, after a directive from his mom to “live in the moment and enjoy it,” he finally let his win sink in.

“Still been grinding all week,” he made sure to add.

Dunn, Johnson’s ‘mad scientist’ explained that’s just who Kemper is.

“It’s not just the training aspect – it’s who he is as a man, it’s who he is as a father, it’s who he is as a husband,” he explained. “Like I said, it’s who he is as a human being.”

And if you think one Middleweight championship belt is enough to satisfy the likes of Kemper Johnson, you would be wrong.

“We’re going after anybody with a zero at the end of their record,” he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.