Harold Johnson (August 9, 1928 – February 19, 2015) was an American professional boxer. He held the NYSAC, NBA/WBA, and The Ring light heavyweight titles from 1962 to 1963.

Boxing career

Johnson was born in Manayunk, Philadelphia. He started boxing while serving in the United States Navy and turned professional in 1946. He won his first twenty-four fights before losing a ten-round decision to Archie Moore in 1949. Moore would be Johnson's biggest career rival. Johnson rebounded with four straight victories, including a ten-round decision win against future Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Bivins.

Johnson's father, Phil Johnson, was also a professional boxer. Phil and Harold Johnson became the first father/son combination to not only fight the same fighter, but lose to him as well. Both suffered third-round knockout defeats at the hands of future World Heavyweight Champion Jersey Joe Walcott in 1936 and 1950, respectively. Harold lost after suffering an injury to the intervertebral disc in the small of his back.

After five consecutive wins, Johnson resumed his rivalry with Archie Moore, fighting Moore three times in a row between September 1951 and January 1954. All three went the ten-round distance. Johnson lost the rematch, won the rubber match and lost the fourth bout.

In 1952, Johnson split two fights with Bob Satterfield, losing the first by decision and winning the second by knockout, and won a decision over heavyweight contender Nino Valdez. The following year, he defeated former World Heavyweight Champion Ezzard Charles by a split decision. Johnson would finally get a title shot eight years into his career in his fifth and final fight against Archie Moore in 1954. Moore was making the third defense of the World Light Heavyweight Championship. In an exciting fight, Johnson knocked Moore down in the 10th round and was ahead on the scorecards after 13 rounds. But Moore rallied, knocking Johnson down and stopping him in the 14th round.

Johnson outpointed Julio Mederos over ten rounds in 1954. The following year, they had a rematch in Philadelphia. Johnson collapsed after the second round and was carried from the ring on a stretcher. Tests later revealed that Johnson had been drugged with a barbiturate. As a result, the Governor of Pennsylvania suspended boxing in the state for 114 days and instructed the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission to launch a probe. Johnson said he started feeling ill in his dressing room after eating an orange that had been given to him by a stranger who said he was a long-time admirer. A chemical analysis of a piece of the orange showed no trace of a drug or barbiturate. The probe never did uncover who drugged Johnson or how the drug was administered. However, the commission ruled that Johnson knew he was not in condition to fight and should've reported that fact to commission officials on duty that night. He was suspended for six months and his purse was forfeited.

When the National Boxing Association (NBA) withdrew recognition of Archie Moore as World Light Heavyweight Champion for failure to defend, Johnson defeated Jesse Bowdry in 1961 by a ninth-round technical knockout to capture the vacant NBA title. In his first title defense, Johnson stopped Von Clay in two rounds. After defeating second-ranked heavyweight contender Eddie Machen by a ten-round decision in a non-title bout, Johnson successfully defended his title for a second time with a split decision victory over 4th-ranked light heavyweight contender Eddie Cotton.

Johnson gained universal recognition as World Light Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Doug Jones in 1962 by a decision in fifteen rounds. He successfully defended the undisputed title once, outpointing Gustav Scholz in Berlin, then lost it to Willie Pastrano by a fifteen-round split decision in 1963. Johnson would never fight for a title again and retired in 1971 with a record of 76–11 with 32 knockouts.

Johnson was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.

Johnson was named the 7th greatest light heavyweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press in 1999. Three years later, The Ring magazine ranked Johnson 7th on the list "The 20 Greatest Light Heavyweight of All-Time" and 80th on the list "The 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years." Johnson died at the age of 86 on February 19, 2015.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes87Loss76–11 Herschel JacobsTKO3 (10)Mar 30, 1971 86Win76–10 Johnny AlfordUD10Jun 11, 1968 85Win75–10 Lothar StengelPTS10Feb 3, 1968 84Win74–10 Eddie JonesPTS10Aug 7, 1967 83Win73–10 Herschel JacobsUD10May 1, 1967 82Win72–10 Pekka KokkonenPTS10Dec 6, 1966 81Loss71–10 Johnny PersolUD10Jan 7, 1966 80Win71–9 Hank CaseyKO8 (10)Apr 20, 1964 79Win70–9 Henry HankUD10Dec 6, 1963 78Loss69–9 Willie PastranoSD15Jun 1, 1963 77Win69–8 Tommy MerrillTKO9 (10)Mar 19, 1963 76Win68–8 Gustav ScholzUD15Jun 23, 1962 75Win67–8 Doug JonesUD15May 12, 1962 74Win66–8 Eddie CottonSD15Aug 29, 1961 73Win65–8 Eddie MachenPTS10Jul 1, 1961 72Win64–8 Von ClayTKO2 (15)Apr 24, 1961 71Win63–8 Jesse BowdryTKO9 (15)Feb 7, 1961 70Win62–8 Clarence FloydUD10May 4, 1960 69Win61–8 Sonny RayTKO10 (10)Nov 11, 1959 68Win60–8 Johnny YorkTKO6 (10)Aug 4, 1959 67Win59–8 Rudy WatkinsKO6 (10)Dec 15, 1958 66Win58–8 Howard KingUD10Dec 3, 1958 65Win57–8 Ollie WilsonTKO2 (10)Apr 15, 1958 64Win56–8 Bert WhitehurstUD10Jan 17, 1958 63Win55–8 Sid PeaksKO5 (10)Dec 17, 1957 62Win54–8 Wayne BetheaUD10Sep 10, 1957 61Win53–8 Clarence HinnantKO1 (10)May 31, 1957 60Win52–8 Bob SatterfieldUD10Mar 12, 1957 59Win51–8 Bert WhitehurstPTS10Dec 8, 1956 58Loss50–8 Julio MederosTKO2 (10)May 6, 1955 57Win50–7 Paul AndrewsKO6 (10)Feb 11, 1955 56Win49–7 Marty MarshallUD10Dec 22, 1954 55Win48–7 Julio MederosUD10Dec 7, 1954 54Loss47–7 Oakland Billy SmithKO2 (10)Oct 8, 1954 53Loss47–6 Archie MooreTKO14 (15)Aug 11, 1954 52Win47–5 Paul AndrewsMD10Mar 17, 1954 51Win46–5 Charley Doc WilliamsTKO8 (10)Feb 15, 1954 50Win45–5 Jimmy SladeSD10Jan 29, 1954 49Win44–5 Chubby WrightUD10Nov 19, 1953 48Win43–5 Henry HallUD10Nov 7, 1953 47Win42–5 Ezzard CharlesSD10Sep 8, 1953 46Win41–5 Toxie HallUD10May 11, 1953 45Win40–5 Billy GilliamUD10Mar 21, 1953 44Win39–5 Jimmy SladeUD10Jan 16, 1953 43Win38–5 Niño ValdésUD10Nov 24, 1952 42Win37–5 Bob SatterfieldKO2 (10)Oct 6, 1952 41Win36–5 Leonard MorrowKO3 (10)Sep 16, 1952 40Loss35–5 Bob SatterfieldSD10Aug 6, 1952 39Win35–4 Clarence HenrySD10Mar 17, 1952 38Loss34–4 Archie MooreUD10Jan 29, 1952 37Win34–3 Archie MooreUD10Dec 10, 1951 36Loss33–3 Archie MooreUD10Sep 24, 1951 35Win33–2 Chubby WrightUD10Jul 23, 1951 34Win32–2 Elkins BrothersTKO10 (10)Jun 18, 1951 33Win31–2 Chuck HunterPTS8Feb 9, 1951 32Win30–2 Dusty WilkersonKO4 (10)Jan 22, 1951 31Win29–2 Harry DanielsKO2 (10)Dec 18, 1950 30Loss28–2 Jersey Joe WalcottKO3 (10)Feb 8, 1950 29Win28–1 Bert LytellPTS10Dec 7, 1949 28Win27–1 Jimmy BivinsUD10Oct 26, 1949 27Win26–1 Henry HallUD10Jul 25, 1949 26Win25–1 Henry HallUD10Jun 16, 1949 25Loss24–1 Archie MooreUD10Apr 26, 1949 24Win24–0 Arturo GodoyUD10Feb 23, 1949 23Win23–0 Willie BrownKO7 (8)Dec 14, 1948 22Win22–0 Jim HoldenPTS8Nov 9, 1948 21Win21–0 Agostinho GuedesTKO3 (10)Sep 28, 1948 20Win20–0 Vernon WilliamsPTS8May 13, 1948 19Win19–0 Kenny HarrisUD10Mar 29, 1948 18Win18–0 Kenny HarrisUD8Mar 1, 1948 17Win17–0 Kid WolfePTS8Dec 11, 1947 16Win16–0 Herbie KatzKO1 (8)Nov 24, 1947 15Win15–0 Jimmy MooreKO5 (8)Nov 6, 1947 14Win14–0 Eddie BeazleyTKO1 (6)Oct 6, 1947 13Win13–0 Al PinelPTS6Aug 4, 1947 12Win12–0 Tommy RuthKO6 (8)Jul 8, 1947 11Win11–0 Fred LesterTKO8 (8)May 26, 1947 10Win10–0 Leon SzymurskiTKO3 (6)Apr 28, 1947 9Win9–0 Tony GilloPTS6Mar 10, 1947 8Win8–0 Joe Van LoanTKO2 (6)Feb 17, 1947 7Win7–0 Jim HoldenKO4 (6)Feb 10, 1947 6Win6–0 Chappie ManningPTS6Jan 24, 1947 5Win5–0 Frank LowryTKO2 (6)Jan 10, 1947 4Win4–0 Randy IngramKO4 (6)Oct 25, 1946 3Win3–0 Jimmy KennedyPTS6Sep 9, 1946 2Win2–0 Ted SimmonsKO2 (4)Aug 13, 1946 1Win1–0 Dick BrewsterKO2 (4)Jun 18, 1946

Titles in boxing Major world titles NYSAC light heavyweight champion (175 lbs) NBA (WBA) light heavyweight champion (175 lbs) WBC light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed light heavyweight champion

See also List of light heavyweight boxing champions

Notes and references Notes

References

External links

Harold Johnson – CBZ Profile