R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
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elmersalsa
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 15652
- Joined: 02 Feb 2003, 03:50
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Did Floyd Patterson died of same sickness?
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Elmer, according to one of my clients, an MD neurologist who works extensively with Alzeheimer's patients, Alzeheimer's is never the primary cause of death for its sufferers. It, however, is an underlying cause of death, with pneumonia and dehydration the most frequent primary causes of death for Alzehiemer's patients.
So, it is likely that while both Ingo and Patterson suffered from Alzeheimer's, they may have had different primary causes of death.
So, it is likely that while both Ingo and Patterson suffered from Alzeheimer's, they may have had different primary causes of death.
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Patterson also had Prostate cancer (Stage 4)raylawpc wrote:Elmer, according to one of my clients, an MD neurologist who works extensively with Alzeheimer's patients, Alzeheimer's is never the primary cause of death for its sufferers. It, however, is an underlying cause of death, with pneumonia and dehydration the most frequent primary causes of death for Alzehiemer's patients.
So, it is likely that while both Ingo and Patterson suffered from Alzeheimer's, they may have had different primary causes of death.
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Ah, I couldn't remember. News accounts make it appear Johansson died from heart failure.kikibalt wrote:Patterson also had Prostate cancer (Stage 4)raylawpc wrote:Elmer, according to one of my clients, an MD neurologist who works extensively with Alzeheimer's patients, Alzeheimer's is never the primary cause of death for its sufferers. It, however, is an underlying cause of death, with pneumonia and dehydration the most frequent primary causes of death for Alzehiemer's patients.
So, it is likely that while both Ingo and Patterson suffered from Alzeheimer's, they may have had different primary causes of death.
Interesting thing about Alzeheimer's: Cancer is a less frequent cause of death for Alzeheimer's patients than in the general population. Researchers aren't sure why.
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Thanks for some really exciting fights!!! R.I.P., Champ!
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Goodnight, Irene
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 9463
- Joined: 24 Sep 2007, 04:43
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
"Ah, I couldn't remember. News accounts make it appear Johansson died from heart failure.
Interesting thing about Alzeheimer's: Cancer is a less frequent cause of death for Alzeheimer's patients than in the general population. Researchers aren't sure why." - Ray
Sounds like a red herring, to me.
Interesting thing about Alzeheimer's: Cancer is a less frequent cause of death for Alzeheimer's patients than in the general population. Researchers aren't sure why." - Ray
Sounds like a red herring, to me.
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
From the LA Times, courtesy kikibalt:
By Bill Dwyre
There was a time, long past, when the heavyweight boxing champion of the world was among the more famous and celebrated people on Earth.
Even if he came out of nowhere, or Sweden, as was the case with "Toonder and Lightning" Ingemar Johansson, he became a household name. Now, we don't know who they are, much less where they have households.
When Johansson died in Sweden last weekend at 76, apparently another victim of boxing's inevitable ravishes of dementia, it stirred the memories of the fight trilogy that made him famous. Or, more specifically to Johansson, his moment when Toonder became Lightning.
That took place in the first of his three fights with then-heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. It was June 26, 1959, in Yankee Stadium, with Patterson a shocking 5-1 favorite -- in boxing that's a sell-your-house-and-find-a-bookie spread. The underdog has to be a cadaver.
Johansson was the European champion, but a reputed soft trainer who was more accessible to the media in after-hour nightclubs with an attractive female on his arm than in boxing gyms. He had gotten his shot at the celebrated Patterson by knocking out the previously indestructible Eddie Machen in the first round of a fight in Sweden. The smart money called that a hometown fluke and saw Patterson's defense of his title as another yawner until a real challenger came along.
Still, any heavyweight title fight was a huge deal back then.
"Those were the days of closed-circuit TV for the fights," said John Hall, former Times sports columnist. "I watched at Hollywood Legion Stadium. I'd say there were 5,000 people there."
The first two rounds were routine. But in the third, Johansson threw a big left hook that Patterson blocked, but left himself open in the process. In that opening, Johansson threw the right hand he had lovingly labeled "Toonder and Lightning" and a shocked boxing world watched and listened as Patterson hit the canvas. He got up, but Johansson chased him relentlessly, knocked him down six more times and finally was given the victory when referee Ruby Goldstein stopped the fight.
Unbelievably, there was still nearly a minute left in the round. If the fight had taken place today and the referee had allowed seven knockdowns in 2:03, they would have taken the referee off in handcuffs.
They fought again just six days shy of one year later, this time in New York's Polo Grounds. In the fifth round, Patterson caught Johansson with a leaping left hook that put the Swede down and so out that he gave everybody watching, including Patterson, a scare by twitching while unconscious on his back and not regaining consciousness for several minutes.
Many of those in boxing were surprised that there was a third fight.
"Maybe with better management, he wouldn't have had to go through that again," said Don Fraser, longtime Los Angeles fight promoter. "I could never figure out why his handlers took that third fight."
It was March 13, 1961, in Miami Beach, and while it wasn't as lopsided as many expected -- Johansson actually knocked Patterson down twice -- Patterson knocked Johansson out in the sixth.
Interestingly, before that match, Johansson had sought a younger and fast fighter as a sparring partner, and the ideal place to find that was at Angelo Dundee's gym in Miami.
"He asked and I said I had this young guy," Dundee said. "I was a little worried about putting this tall, skinny kid in there with Ingo. But the kid was always after me to let him spar and let him do this and that. So I took a chance and they went about three rounds and Ingo still hasn't hit my kid."
Johansson fought only four more times after that third Patterson fight, retired with a 26-2 record and probably made a good decision because, had he stayed around a bit longer, he might have had to face, in a real fight, that same tall, skinny kid named Cassius Clay.
In retirement, Johansson lived what local sports promoter Al Franken termed "an idyllic life."
Johansson stayed close to Patterson -- they made a point to visit each other at least once a year -- and he even took up distance running. That's what prompted Franken to begin a friendship.
"I heard that he and Patterson had run a marathon together," Franken recalled, "and years later, I remembered that when I had this terrible promotion I had to handle. The client was Foot Locker, but the idea they had was awful. They wanted me to promote an 8K race in Griffith Park and it was a partners race -- you and your wife, brother and sister, father and son, etc.
"So I got Ingo and Patterson to come to L.A. -- partners, get it? -- and they were great. In those days, you didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to get an athlete to appear, and so the client ended up loving it. They had dinner with two former heavyweight champions, and these guys who everybody had forgotten were getting paid to do something."
Franken said that Patterson finished the 8K in such good shape that he placed high in his age division. Johansson was a different story.
"This was maybe 20 years ago," Franken said, "and by then, Ingo weighed about 300 pounds. But he finished the race. It took him forever, but he finished."
Johansson weighed 196, 194 3/4 and 206 1/2 for his three fights with Patterson.
"We had a round of golf, and he hit the ball a ton," Franken said, "but always about 150 yards off line. He laughed and joked, and afterward we had a few drinks, and I'm sure, dinner. We know he didn't pass up food."
Franken said he did a few other events with Johansson and they stayed friends, even when they didn't see each other for long periods of time.
Patterson also was struck by dementia late in life, and he died in 2006. Franken said that he knew that Johansson was ill and feared the worst.
About seven or eight years ago, he said, "the Christmas cards stopped coming."
By Bill Dwyre
There was a time, long past, when the heavyweight boxing champion of the world was among the more famous and celebrated people on Earth.
Even if he came out of nowhere, or Sweden, as was the case with "Toonder and Lightning" Ingemar Johansson, he became a household name. Now, we don't know who they are, much less where they have households.
When Johansson died in Sweden last weekend at 76, apparently another victim of boxing's inevitable ravishes of dementia, it stirred the memories of the fight trilogy that made him famous. Or, more specifically to Johansson, his moment when Toonder became Lightning.
That took place in the first of his three fights with then-heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. It was June 26, 1959, in Yankee Stadium, with Patterson a shocking 5-1 favorite -- in boxing that's a sell-your-house-and-find-a-bookie spread. The underdog has to be a cadaver.
Johansson was the European champion, but a reputed soft trainer who was more accessible to the media in after-hour nightclubs with an attractive female on his arm than in boxing gyms. He had gotten his shot at the celebrated Patterson by knocking out the previously indestructible Eddie Machen in the first round of a fight in Sweden. The smart money called that a hometown fluke and saw Patterson's defense of his title as another yawner until a real challenger came along.
Still, any heavyweight title fight was a huge deal back then.
"Those were the days of closed-circuit TV for the fights," said John Hall, former Times sports columnist. "I watched at Hollywood Legion Stadium. I'd say there were 5,000 people there."
The first two rounds were routine. But in the third, Johansson threw a big left hook that Patterson blocked, but left himself open in the process. In that opening, Johansson threw the right hand he had lovingly labeled "Toonder and Lightning" and a shocked boxing world watched and listened as Patterson hit the canvas. He got up, but Johansson chased him relentlessly, knocked him down six more times and finally was given the victory when referee Ruby Goldstein stopped the fight.
Unbelievably, there was still nearly a minute left in the round. If the fight had taken place today and the referee had allowed seven knockdowns in 2:03, they would have taken the referee off in handcuffs.
They fought again just six days shy of one year later, this time in New York's Polo Grounds. In the fifth round, Patterson caught Johansson with a leaping left hook that put the Swede down and so out that he gave everybody watching, including Patterson, a scare by twitching while unconscious on his back and not regaining consciousness for several minutes.
Many of those in boxing were surprised that there was a third fight.
"Maybe with better management, he wouldn't have had to go through that again," said Don Fraser, longtime Los Angeles fight promoter. "I could never figure out why his handlers took that third fight."
It was March 13, 1961, in Miami Beach, and while it wasn't as lopsided as many expected -- Johansson actually knocked Patterson down twice -- Patterson knocked Johansson out in the sixth.
Interestingly, before that match, Johansson had sought a younger and fast fighter as a sparring partner, and the ideal place to find that was at Angelo Dundee's gym in Miami.
"He asked and I said I had this young guy," Dundee said. "I was a little worried about putting this tall, skinny kid in there with Ingo. But the kid was always after me to let him spar and let him do this and that. So I took a chance and they went about three rounds and Ingo still hasn't hit my kid."
Johansson fought only four more times after that third Patterson fight, retired with a 26-2 record and probably made a good decision because, had he stayed around a bit longer, he might have had to face, in a real fight, that same tall, skinny kid named Cassius Clay.
In retirement, Johansson lived what local sports promoter Al Franken termed "an idyllic life."
Johansson stayed close to Patterson -- they made a point to visit each other at least once a year -- and he even took up distance running. That's what prompted Franken to begin a friendship.
"I heard that he and Patterson had run a marathon together," Franken recalled, "and years later, I remembered that when I had this terrible promotion I had to handle. The client was Foot Locker, but the idea they had was awful. They wanted me to promote an 8K race in Griffith Park and it was a partners race -- you and your wife, brother and sister, father and son, etc.
"So I got Ingo and Patterson to come to L.A. -- partners, get it? -- and they were great. In those days, you didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to get an athlete to appear, and so the client ended up loving it. They had dinner with two former heavyweight champions, and these guys who everybody had forgotten were getting paid to do something."
Franken said that Patterson finished the 8K in such good shape that he placed high in his age division. Johansson was a different story.
"This was maybe 20 years ago," Franken said, "and by then, Ingo weighed about 300 pounds. But he finished the race. It took him forever, but he finished."
Johansson weighed 196, 194 3/4 and 206 1/2 for his three fights with Patterson.
"We had a round of golf, and he hit the ball a ton," Franken said, "but always about 150 yards off line. He laughed and joked, and afterward we had a few drinks, and I'm sure, dinner. We know he didn't pass up food."
Franken said he did a few other events with Johansson and they stayed friends, even when they didn't see each other for long periods of time.
Patterson also was struck by dementia late in life, and he died in 2006. Franken said that he knew that Johansson was ill and feared the worst.
About seven or eight years ago, he said, "the Christmas cards stopped coming."
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Funeral info from Associated Press:
STOCKHOLM: The funeral for former heavyweight boxing champion Ingemar Johansson will be held next week in his home town of Goteborg.
The Feb. 13 service in Goteborg's Vasa church will be open to the public, Swedish news agency TT reported Wednesday.
Johansson died at a nursing home last Friday after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and dementia more than 10 years ago. He was 76.
Known as "Ingo" to Swedes, Johansson stunned the boxing world when he knocked out Floyd Patterson to win the heavyweight title at Yankee Stadium in New York on June 26, 1959.
STOCKHOLM: The funeral for former heavyweight boxing champion Ingemar Johansson will be held next week in his home town of Goteborg.
The Feb. 13 service in Goteborg's Vasa church will be open to the public, Swedish news agency TT reported Wednesday.
Johansson died at a nursing home last Friday after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and dementia more than 10 years ago. He was 76.
Known as "Ingo" to Swedes, Johansson stunned the boxing world when he knocked out Floyd Patterson to win the heavyweight title at Yankee Stadium in New York on June 26, 1959.
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Great knockout but, they need a real referee in there.
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Ingemar Johansson
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Andrew Smyth was the referee. I guess the guy had an off night. (The said, the referee is the one guy you don't ever want to have an off-night!!)kikibalt wrote:Great knockout but, they need a real referee in there.
He actually refereed several important bouts:
1964-11-30 Willie Pastrano W Terry Downes King's Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom TKO 11
~ time: 1:17 | referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ WBC light heavyweight title ~
~ WBA light heavyweight title ~
1964-06-02 Kenny Lane L Dave Charnley Empire Pool, Wembley, London, United Kingdom PTS 10
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1964-01-06 Santo Amonti L Floyd Patterson Johanneshov, Stockholm, Sweden TKO 8
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1963-10-22 Carlos Ortiz W Maurice Cullen Empire Pool, Wembley, London, United Kingdom PTS 10
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1963-04-21 Ingemar Johansson W Brian London Johanneshov Ice Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden PTS 12
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1962-10-20 Freddie Gilroy W Johnny Caldwell Kings Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom TKO 9
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ BBBofC British bantamweight title ~
~ Commonwealth (British Empire) bantamweight title ~
1962-09-25 Sugar Ray Robinson L Terry Downes Empire Pool, Wembley, London, United Kingdom PTS 10
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1962-02-09 Ingemar Johansson W Joe Bygraves Maesshallen Sports Hall, Gothenburg, Sweden TKO 7
~ time: 2:08 | referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1961-10-17 Eddie Machen W Brian London Empire Pool, Wembley, London, United Kingdom RTD 5
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1960-12-06 Henry Cooper W Alex Miteff Empire Pool, Wembley, London, United Kingdom PTS 10
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1960-08-29 Brian London L Dick Richardson Coney Beach Arena, Porthcawl, Wales, United Kingdom TKO 8
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ EBU (European) heavyweight title ~
1960-05-31 Dave Charnley W Paul Armstead Empire Pool, Wembley, London, United Kingdom KO 9
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1960-04-23 Pat Stapleton W Paddy Slavin Kings Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom KO 6
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ Irish heavyweight title ~
1958-09-14 Eddie Machen L Ingemar Johansson Nya Ullevi, Goteborg, Sweden KO 1
~ time: 2:16 | referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1957-04-09 Dave Charnley W Joe Lucy Harringay Arena, Harringay, London, United Kingdom PTS 15
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ BBBofC British lightweight title ~
1955-08-28 Ingemar Johansson W Hein Ten Hoff Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden KO 1
~ time: 1:00 | referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1949-08-14 Jersey Joe Walcott W Olle Tandberg Raasunda Fotball Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden TKO 5
~ time: 2:30 | referee: Andrew Smyth ~
1949-08-11 Ronnie Clayton W Eddie Miller The Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom KO 12
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ Commonwealth (British Empire) featherweight title ~
1949-05-18 Harry Hughes L Billy Thompson Celtic Park Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom TKO 5
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ EBU (European) lightweight title ~
~ BBBofC British lightweight title ~
1949-03-24 Jackie Paterson L Stan Rowan Anfield Football Ground, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom PTS 15
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
~ Commonwealth (British Empire) bantamweight title ~
~ BBBofC British bantamweight title ~
1949-02-04 Olle Tandberg W Stephane Olek Masshallen, Gothenburg, Sweden PTS 12
~ referee: Andrew Smyth ~
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Great resume but, did a lousy job that nite for sure.
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
Oh yes. It reminded me a bit of Tony Perez' performance in the Cooney-Norton fight.kikibalt wrote:Great resume but, did a lousy job that nite for sure.
The amazing thing is that one of the fights he refereed after the Johansson-Machen was the Machen-Brian London in 1961. I'm surprised Machen wanted anything to do with the guy . . .
Re: R.I.P. Ingemar Johansson
RSR Says Goodbye to Ingemar Johansson
By Geoff “The Professor” Poundes
There’s an old Swedish proverb which goes: “The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm”.
If the people around Ingemar Johansson, who died this week at the age of 76, are searching for an epitaph for the great man, then I can think of no better statement to sum up the former Heavyweight Champion’s life and career.
Johansson was born on September 22nd, 1932, into a country that has always had an uneasy relationship with violence of any kind. Boxing in Sweden rarely flourished before Ingemar came along, and barely survived his stellar career. Johansson was finished with boxing in 1963, and his countrymen decided they were finished with it seven years later, banning the sport altogether. Professional boxing remains banned there all these years later.
Which makes the big Swede’s rise to the very pinnacle of the fistic firmament all the more remarkable. Known predominantly as a strong puncher, and instantly recognizable in his day as something of a poster-boy, Ingemar may have been the first heavyweight champion to get as many rave reviews in the gossip columns as he did in the boxing press. A playboy and glamour-seeker, Johansson took America by storm when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in June 1959 to win the title.
Immediately, Johansson became a hero in his native land, where he had come to be regarded with some suspicion after getting himself disqualified in the final of the Helsinki Olympics – strangely, for not trying! He faced the big American Ed Sanders in that final and decided, he claimed subsequently, to get on his bike and nullify his opponents greater strength. The referee didn’t like his tactics, and threw him out.
As heavyweight champion, he fully redeemed himself, and his title win sparked off a bizarre rivalry with Patterson which saw the two of them hijack the heavyweight championship for the next three years – they fought for the title in 1960, and again in 1961, ruling out any other contenders over that period. The Patterson-Johansson series was an eclectic mix of skill and power – the Swede
handed back the belt to Patterson in the 1960 encounter, and then unsuccessfully challenged the American in 1961.
But the first contest was the most remarkable of the sequence. In the third round at Yankee Stadium, Johansson swung across his fabled right hand (the press, ever-willing to add a moniker to any fighter’s distinctive weapon, called it “Ingo’s Bingo”) and Patterson went down as if felled by an axe. He somehow rose to his feet, and referee Ruby Goldstein, one of America’s most respected, waved the fight on. But Patterson was still in the land of nod, and provided one of boxing’s most enduring images – he turned away from Johansson, wiping his nose with his glove and shrugging his shoulders like an unruly schoolboy, as the Swede jumped in and battered him to the floor again. He would visit the canvas five more times in the round before Goldstein, who will surely have had better nights, belatedly called the whole thing off. Johansson became only the second European in history to wrest the title from the United States. Patterson acknowledged the fact post-fight: “Losing the title was bad enough, but losing to a foreigner was even worse.”
Patterson avenged the loss a year later with a fifth round TKO, and repeated the feat in 1961, this time in the sixth. Patterson hit the floor in both of those fights too, courtesy of Ingo’s Bingo. Over the three contests, the two boxed less than 14 rounds, and shared 13 knockdowns, with Patterson bounced 10 times!
Johansson won’t go in the history books as one of the all-time greats – he stands out in Sweden as one of only two world champions they have ever produced (in case you’re wondering the other is Armand Krajnc, who held the WBO Middleweight belt between 1999 and 2002). He was a big, strong man with a devil of a right hand punch, and who made the best use of his resources at a time when the heavyweight division was a little stagnant and waiting for it’s next big thing (which many thought would be Sonny Liston, but turned out to be Muhammad Ali).
When he’d done with boxing, Ingemar took the $2.5m he had earned from boxing and invested it in various business endeavors, including a construction company, a fishing trawler and a hotel in Florida. He had a successful business career, and enjoyed a colorful life outside of boxing. He maintained contact with Floyd Patterson until the latter’s death in 2006, and the two shared an unfortunate bout with Alzheimer’s disease at the end of their lives.
I remember a few years ago, I was researching an article about heavyweight boxing, and came across some old footage of the television program “What’s My Line?” in which celebrity contestants attempted to divine by way of clues what was a particular guest’s line of work. This particular show was a live celebrity edition, and the contestants were made to wear blind-folds and search for verbal clues as to the identity of the guest. In walked Ingemar Johansson, looking like a film-star and dapper in a dark suit, and it took the panel only a couple of moments to discover him. The women seemed particularly delighted to see him, and one exclaimed: “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in bed? You’re fighting tomorrow night!”
It was the night before the second Patterson fight at the New York Polo Grounds, which he lost, and may not have been best prepared for!
Ingemar Johansson
Division: Heavyweight
Professional Record: 26-2, 17 KO’s
Date Opponent Location Result
1952-12-05 Robert Masson Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 4
1953-02-06 Emile Bentz Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 2
1953-03-06 Lloyd Barnett Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 8
1953-03-12 Erik Jensen Copenhagen, Denmark W PTS 6
1953-12-03 Raymond Degl'Innocenti Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 2
1954-11-05 Werner Wiegand Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 5
1955-01-06 Ansell Adams Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 8
1955-02-13 Kurt Schiegl Stockholm, Sweden W TKO 5
1955-03-04 Aldo Pellegrini Gothenburg, Sweden W DQ 5
1955-04-03 Uber Bacilieri Stockholm, Sweden W UD 8
1955-06-12 Guenter Nurnberg Dortmund, Germany W KO 7
1955-08-28 Hein Ten Hoff Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 1
1956-02-24 Joe Bygraves Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 8
1956-04-15 Hans Friedrich Stockholm, Sweden W PTS 10
1956-09-30 Franco Cavicchi Bologna, Italy W KO 13
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1956-12-28 Peter Bates Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 2
1957-05-19 Henry Cooper Stockholm, Sweden W KO 5
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1957-12-13 Archie McBride Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 10
1958-02-21 Joe Erskine Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 13
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1958-07-13 Heinz Neuhaus Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 4
1958-09-14 Eddie Machen Goteborg, Sweden W KO 1
1959-06-26 Floyd Patterson Bronx, USA W TKO 3
1960-06-20 Floyd Patterson New York City, USA L KO 5
1961-03-13 Floyd Patterson Miami Beach, USA L KO 6
1962-02-09 Joe Bygraves Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 7
1962-04-15 Wim Snoek Stockholm, Sweden W KO 5
1962-06-17 Dick Richardson Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 8
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1963-04-21 Brian London Stockholm, Sweden W PTS 12
By Geoff “The Professor” Poundes
There’s an old Swedish proverb which goes: “The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm”.
If the people around Ingemar Johansson, who died this week at the age of 76, are searching for an epitaph for the great man, then I can think of no better statement to sum up the former Heavyweight Champion’s life and career.
Johansson was born on September 22nd, 1932, into a country that has always had an uneasy relationship with violence of any kind. Boxing in Sweden rarely flourished before Ingemar came along, and barely survived his stellar career. Johansson was finished with boxing in 1963, and his countrymen decided they were finished with it seven years later, banning the sport altogether. Professional boxing remains banned there all these years later.
Which makes the big Swede’s rise to the very pinnacle of the fistic firmament all the more remarkable. Known predominantly as a strong puncher, and instantly recognizable in his day as something of a poster-boy, Ingemar may have been the first heavyweight champion to get as many rave reviews in the gossip columns as he did in the boxing press. A playboy and glamour-seeker, Johansson took America by storm when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in June 1959 to win the title.
Immediately, Johansson became a hero in his native land, where he had come to be regarded with some suspicion after getting himself disqualified in the final of the Helsinki Olympics – strangely, for not trying! He faced the big American Ed Sanders in that final and decided, he claimed subsequently, to get on his bike and nullify his opponents greater strength. The referee didn’t like his tactics, and threw him out.
As heavyweight champion, he fully redeemed himself, and his title win sparked off a bizarre rivalry with Patterson which saw the two of them hijack the heavyweight championship for the next three years – they fought for the title in 1960, and again in 1961, ruling out any other contenders over that period. The Patterson-Johansson series was an eclectic mix of skill and power – the Swede
handed back the belt to Patterson in the 1960 encounter, and then unsuccessfully challenged the American in 1961.
But the first contest was the most remarkable of the sequence. In the third round at Yankee Stadium, Johansson swung across his fabled right hand (the press, ever-willing to add a moniker to any fighter’s distinctive weapon, called it “Ingo’s Bingo”) and Patterson went down as if felled by an axe. He somehow rose to his feet, and referee Ruby Goldstein, one of America’s most respected, waved the fight on. But Patterson was still in the land of nod, and provided one of boxing’s most enduring images – he turned away from Johansson, wiping his nose with his glove and shrugging his shoulders like an unruly schoolboy, as the Swede jumped in and battered him to the floor again. He would visit the canvas five more times in the round before Goldstein, who will surely have had better nights, belatedly called the whole thing off. Johansson became only the second European in history to wrest the title from the United States. Patterson acknowledged the fact post-fight: “Losing the title was bad enough, but losing to a foreigner was even worse.”
Patterson avenged the loss a year later with a fifth round TKO, and repeated the feat in 1961, this time in the sixth. Patterson hit the floor in both of those fights too, courtesy of Ingo’s Bingo. Over the three contests, the two boxed less than 14 rounds, and shared 13 knockdowns, with Patterson bounced 10 times!
Johansson won’t go in the history books as one of the all-time greats – he stands out in Sweden as one of only two world champions they have ever produced (in case you’re wondering the other is Armand Krajnc, who held the WBO Middleweight belt between 1999 and 2002). He was a big, strong man with a devil of a right hand punch, and who made the best use of his resources at a time when the heavyweight division was a little stagnant and waiting for it’s next big thing (which many thought would be Sonny Liston, but turned out to be Muhammad Ali).
When he’d done with boxing, Ingemar took the $2.5m he had earned from boxing and invested it in various business endeavors, including a construction company, a fishing trawler and a hotel in Florida. He had a successful business career, and enjoyed a colorful life outside of boxing. He maintained contact with Floyd Patterson until the latter’s death in 2006, and the two shared an unfortunate bout with Alzheimer’s disease at the end of their lives.
I remember a few years ago, I was researching an article about heavyweight boxing, and came across some old footage of the television program “What’s My Line?” in which celebrity contestants attempted to divine by way of clues what was a particular guest’s line of work. This particular show was a live celebrity edition, and the contestants were made to wear blind-folds and search for verbal clues as to the identity of the guest. In walked Ingemar Johansson, looking like a film-star and dapper in a dark suit, and it took the panel only a couple of moments to discover him. The women seemed particularly delighted to see him, and one exclaimed: “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in bed? You’re fighting tomorrow night!”
It was the night before the second Patterson fight at the New York Polo Grounds, which he lost, and may not have been best prepared for!
Ingemar Johansson
Division: Heavyweight
Professional Record: 26-2, 17 KO’s
Date Opponent Location Result
1952-12-05 Robert Masson Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 4
1953-02-06 Emile Bentz Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 2
1953-03-06 Lloyd Barnett Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 8
1953-03-12 Erik Jensen Copenhagen, Denmark W PTS 6
1953-12-03 Raymond Degl'Innocenti Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 2
1954-11-05 Werner Wiegand Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 5
1955-01-06 Ansell Adams Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 8
1955-02-13 Kurt Schiegl Stockholm, Sweden W TKO 5
1955-03-04 Aldo Pellegrini Gothenburg, Sweden W DQ 5
1955-04-03 Uber Bacilieri Stockholm, Sweden W UD 8
1955-06-12 Guenter Nurnberg Dortmund, Germany W KO 7
1955-08-28 Hein Ten Hoff Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 1
1956-02-24 Joe Bygraves Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 8
1956-04-15 Hans Friedrich Stockholm, Sweden W PTS 10
1956-09-30 Franco Cavicchi Bologna, Italy W KO 13
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1956-12-28 Peter Bates Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 2
1957-05-19 Henry Cooper Stockholm, Sweden W KO 5
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1957-12-13 Archie McBride Gothenburg, Sweden W PTS 10
1958-02-21 Joe Erskine Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 13
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1958-07-13 Heinz Neuhaus Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 4
1958-09-14 Eddie Machen Goteborg, Sweden W KO 1
1959-06-26 Floyd Patterson Bronx, USA W TKO 3
1960-06-20 Floyd Patterson New York City, USA L KO 5
1961-03-13 Floyd Patterson Miami Beach, USA L KO 6
1962-02-09 Joe Bygraves Gothenburg, Sweden W TKO 7
1962-04-15 Wim Snoek Stockholm, Sweden W KO 5
1962-06-17 Dick Richardson Gothenburg, Sweden W KO 8
EBU (European) Heavyweight Title
1963-04-21 Brian London Stockholm, Sweden W PTS 12