Boxing Great Harold Johnson Dies

Some fighters seize the public’s imagination with awe-inspiring one-punch knockouts. Others bedazzle with bursts of supersonic speed. A few grab headlines with their retina-burning attire, their inspirational life stories or their inflammatory trash talk.

Onetime light heavyweight champion Harold Johnson, who died Thursday morning at 86, didn’t take any shortcuts to earn his greatness. He was a solid citizen in a sport saturated by crazies, criminals and characters. He was the guy who clocked in every day and did his job in such a classy, dignified manner that one couldn’t help but admire his excellence. Johnson was a beautifully proportioned 5-foot-11 specimen who used a picture-perfect stance, a textbook high guard, compactly crisp punches and uncommon patience. He struck only when the openings presented themselves and not a moment sooner. That’s how confident he was within his technical envelope. Johnson held the lightheavyweight title from 1961 to1963. R.I.P. champ!

From 1946 to 1971 Johnson went 76-11 (32) and beat the likes of Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Arturo Godoy, Jimmy Bivins, Bob Satterfield (twice), Nino Valdes, Marty Marshall, Von Clay, Eddie Machen, Eddie Cotton, Doug Jones, Gustav Scholz and Henry Hank. His highly technical and unrushed approach was deemed boring by some but to the cognoscenti, like Hall of Fame matchmaker Teddy Brenner, he was “perfection.”

Johnson may be best remembered for his five-fight series with Moore, of which he won only once – a 10-round decision in their third fight, the middle bout of a back-to-back-to-back gauntlet between September 1951 and January 1952. Their final meeting in August 1954, the only one involving a championship, was their most exciting. Johnson, in his first title fight, broke open a close contest with a knockdown in the 10th. Leading on two scorecards and even on the third Johnson appeared on his way to immortality but the “Old Mongoose” rallied to score a 14th-round TKO.

After the NBA stripped Moore, Johnson won the vacant belt in February 1961 by stopping Jesse Bowdry and notched a defense against Cotton before out-pointing Jones to gain undisputed recognition. After beating Scholz on points in Germany, Johnson lost a heart-breaking split decision to Willie Pastrano. Johnson fought on for another decade, going 7-2 before retiring at 42.

Johnson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993 and his class included Hagler, Elorde, Zivic and Giardello. His surname may have been ordinary in comparison to his peers but his game was anything but.

Unlike the thuggish, negative image that many boxers have contributed to their sports in recent decades, and indeed boxers and boxing unique in this as athletes of all sports tend to disgust me with their behavior, Harold Johnson was a dignified, classy, genuinely NICE man, much in the same manner as Floyd Patterson...a genuine sportsman.

I’ve been following boxing for a long time, but haven’t had the privilege of seeing him fight. I will look now for vintage clips, as he sounds like pure class. That you and others have think so highly of him is a great legacy.

Somewhat off topic, but in keeping with what you wrote, I am very sadly disappointed with many professional sports today, as too many athletes don’t even attempt to present a positive image of themselves and to be role models for youth. When Barkley said he wasn’t a role model, he was wrong.

I’m sorely disappointed in today’s athletes and I have been for years really. Harold Johnson would probably bore the “you know what” out of today;s casual boxing fans, but he was a defensive, techician master, and one of the classiest individuals to ever step inside the ropes. Do yourself a favor, if you are a fan of the good,scientific,technical side of boxing and look him up...there’s footage on You Tube.

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