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.
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RIP.
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.
Somewhere between Roberto Duran and Roy Jones, as I see it at least, is the gold standard for professional prize fighters on a pound/pound basis. Golovkin is either in that class or right next to it, sort of hard to tell at this point. I wouldn’t rate anybody else I’ve watched quite that high.