Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson (; 22 September 1932 – 30 January 2009) was a Swedish
professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1963. He held the world
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...
title from 1959 to 1960, and was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside the United States. Johansson won the title by defeating
Floyd Patterson via third-round
stoppage, after flooring him seven times in that round. For this achievement, Johansson was awarded the
Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year—the only non-American in its entire 27-year first run—and was named the
Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year and
''Sports Illustrated'' Sportsman of the Year.
Johansson also held the
European heavyweight title twice, from 1956 to 1958 and from 1962 to 1963. As an
amateur he won a silver medal in the heavyweight division at the
1952 Summer Olympics. He affectionately named his right fist "toonder and lightning" for its concussive power (it was also called "Ingo's bingo" and the "Hammer of Thor"), and in 2003 he was ranked at No. 99 on
''The Ring'' magazine's list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Professional career
Early years
Johansson's introduction to the top rank of the sport was inauspicious. At age nineteen he was
disqualified for passivity at the Helsinki
1952 Summer Olympics in the heavyweight competition in a fight against eventual
Olympic gold medalist
Ed Sanders. Johansson maintained he was not evading Sanders (who also got a warning for passivity), but rather was trying to tire his opponent. Johansson said he had been limited to a 10-day training camp, had only trained with newcomers, and had been told by his coach to let Sanders be the aggressor. Nevertheless, his silver medal was withheld for poor performance and only presented to him in 1982.
Johansson had earned his spot in the Olympics by winning the Swedish National Championship earlier the same year, 1952, after he knocked out his opponent in the first round of the final.
After the Olympics Johansson went into seclusion for six months and considered quitting boxing. However, he returned to the ring and turned professional under the guidance of the Swedish publisher and boxing promoter Edwin Ahlquist, subsequently winning his first 21 professional fights. He won the Scandinavian pro title by knocking down and outscoring the Dane
Erik Jensen (breaking his right hand in the process). A broken hand and a one-year military service kept him out of the ring until late 1954. In August 1955, in his twelfth professional fight, Johansson knocked out former European Heavyweight Champion
Hein ten Hoff in the first round. He took the Scandinavian heavyweight title in 1953 and, on 30 September 1956, he won the European Heavyweight Championship by scoring a 13th-round KO over Italy's Franco Cavicchi in Milan.
Johansson successfully defended his European crown against ranked heavyweights
Henry Cooper (fifth-round KO on 19 May 1957) and
Joe Erskine, with a TKO in round 13 on 21 February 1958.
World heavyweight champion
Johansson earned his shot at the world heavyweight crown when he
knocked out top ranked contender
Eddie Machen in the first round of their elimination match on 14 September 1958. In front of 53,615 fans in
Ullevi football stadium, Johansson downed Machen three times, finally finishing him with a barrage of punches at 2:16 of the first round. Johansson then signed to fight champion Floyd Patterson.
Johansson was a colourful figure in New York City as he trained for the fight. Eschewing the monastic training regimen favored by Patterson and other fighters, Johansson trained at the
Catskill resort of
Grossingers. He did not seem to train particularly hard, and was often seen at night spots with his attractive girlfriend, Elaine Sloane, whom he asked out while she was working for ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...
''.
He entered the ring in
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
on 26 June 1959, as a 5–1 underdog.
Johansson spent the first two rounds of the encounter retreating and flicking a light left jab at the champion. In the third round, Johansson threw a wide left hook that Patterson blocked with his right hand.
[New York Times – Johansson](_blank)
Retrieved 24 June 2015 When he moved his right hand away from its protective peek-a-boo position before his chin, Johansson drilled him with a short powerful right hand. Patterson went down, arose on unsteady legs and was out on his feet. Johansson followed up his advantage and sent Patterson down six more times in the round before the bout was stopped by referee
Ruby Goldstein.
Johansson celebrated with his girlfriend and future wife Birgit Lundgren and the next day a headline in a New York newspaper expressed the city's amazement. It read: "Ingo – It's Bingo." When Johansson returned to Sweden, he flew in on a helicopter, landing in the main football stadium in
Gothenburg, his home town, and was cheered by 20,000 people.
He appeared on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'', as well as the cover of ''
Life Magazine
''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
'' on 20 July 1959, alongside Birgit.
Johansson was a flamboyant champion – a precursor to the "
Swinging Sixties
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...
". One publication dubbed Johansson "boxing's Cary Grant" and in 1960 he appeared in the movie ''
All the Young Men
''All the Young Men'' is a 1960 Korean War feature film directed by Hall Bartlett and starring Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier dealing with desegregation in the United States Marine Corps. Poitier plays a sergeant unexpectedly placed in command ...
'' as a marine, alongside stars
Alan Ladd and
Sidney Poitier. Wherever he went, in the U.S. or in Sweden, he had a beautiful woman on his arm, with paparazzi snapping pictures.
At that point, retired heavyweight champion
Rocky Marciano, who sat ringside and witnessed as Johansson knocked out Patterson, considered a possible comeback for a championship bout versus Johansson. He entered a training camp, keeping it low profile, but dropped the idea because he could not get into the condition he previously had, feeling he was too old for a title fight.
Rematch with Patterson
Johansson proposed to girlfriend Birgit in April 1960 after the champion visited
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
. Then he turned his attention to defending his title against Floyd Patterson. The two signed for a rematch on 20 June 1960. Patterson knocked Johansson out in the fifth round with a leaping left hook to become the first man to recover the world's undisputed heavyweight title. The punch caught Johansson's chin and he hit the canvas with a thud, out cold before he landed flat on his back. With blood trickling from his mouth, his glazed eyes staring up at the ring lights, and his left foot twitching, the Swede was counted out. After the count, Patterson showed his concern for Johansson by cradling his motionless opponent, and promising him a second rematch. Johansson lay flat on his back on the canvas for five minutes before he was placed on a stool brought into the ring. He was still dazed and unsteady fifteen minutes after the knockout as he was helped out of the ring.
Third match with Patterson
Patterson and Johansson fought their final match on 13 March 1961. Johansson appeared to be in the worst physical condition of his three bouts with Patterson. A. J. Liebling, writing in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
'', said the outcome seemed preordained and that Johansson was not dieting for the fight, eating creamed chicken, strawberry shortcake, and cherry cheesecake. Nonetheless the fight was competitive. Johansson caught Patterson leaping at him in the very first round and knocked him down. He followed his advantage up by scoring another knockdown, but was himself caught going in wide open by that famous Patterson left hook, resulting in a knockdown. As the fight progressed, it became obvious that Johansson was spent. Patterson won when the referee swiftly stopped the contest in round six after Johansson had been knocked down once again.
To train for the third fight with Patterson, Johansson sparred with a young
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...
, known then as Cassius Clay, in Miami Beach. After Ali had "boxed his way around the ring, as if it was he using 'Ingo' as a sparring partner", somebody offered $100,000 to Johansson to fight in a televised event with Ali, but he declined saying that the fight would not draw three ticket holders and that Ali did not have the ability to step in the ring with him at that time.
Later career and retirement
Johansson, then only 29, returned to Europe. He recaptured the European crown from
Dick Richardson by an eight-round KO on 17 June 1962. By this time,
Sonny Liston had captured the heavyweight crown from Patterson, and efforts were underway to match Johansson with Liston.
Johansson, however, fought journeyman heavyweight
Brian London on 21 April 1963, in a non-title 12-round match. Johansson won most of the rounds but seldom threw a serious right-hand punch with the exception of round seven when a short right from Johansson staggered London (Las Vegas Sun, April 22, 1963, page 24). In round 12, with four seconds remaining in the fight, London hit Johansson with a powerful right hand that knocked him on his back. Johansson arose at the count of four, just as the bell rang to end the fight. Johansson was groggy, but was the points winner. UPI scored the fight 11-1 in favour of Johansson (Las Vegas Sun, April 22, 1963, page 24).
The next day, the front page of Stockholm's newspapers showed a photo of him dizzy, climbing the ropes, with the headline "Wake up Ingo – You won!" After seeing this, he wrote a letter to the
European Boxing Union resigning his title and retiring from boxing at the age of 30.
Life after boxing
Ingemar Johansson and Floyd Patterson became good friends who flew across the Atlantic to visit each other every year.
Johansson made several films in Sweden and appeared as a marine in the
Korean War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Korean War
, partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict
, image = Korean War Montage 2.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Clockwise from top: ...
film ''All the Young Men'' (1960). In the 1960s along with other business interests, Johansson co-promoted boxing cards in Sweden, including several with ex-champ Sonny Liston (1966 and 1967). On 22 April 1966, he boxed a five-round exhibition with European Heavyweight Champion
Karl Mildenberger for his first co-promotion. He also owned a fishing boat and a bar called "Ingo's".
By the 1970s, he resided in
Pompano Beach, Florida
Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2 ...
, where he owned a hotel. He ran in marathons (including the
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...
and
Boston Marathon) all over the world until the mid-1980s. In 1985 he completed the Stockholm Marathon.
During the 1990s, Johansson and Patterson would attend boxing conventions and also sign their autographs on boxing memorabilia. They continued to be friends until the onset of
Alzheimer's disease incapacitated them both. It is thought the illness was of the type linked to boxing, although his career was fairly short compared with some champions. In the 1990s Johansson's business interests in Sweden included sports apparel and a light lager beer called "Hammer", named for his punching prowess.
In 2000, the Swedish Sports Academy selected Johansson as Sweden's third-best athlete of the 20th century, behind tennis great
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at W ...
and Alpine skiing great
Ingemar Stenmark. In 2002, he was inducted to the
International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Having suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia since the mid-1990s, he lived in a nursing home in
Kungsbacka
Kungsbacka () (old da, Kongsbakke) is a locality and the seat of Kungsbacka Municipality in Halland County, Sweden, with 19,057 inhabitants in 2010.
It is one of the most affluent parts of Sweden, in part due to its simultaneous proximity to the ...
while his health deteriorated. In the later stages of his illness, he was reunited with his second wife, Birgit, who was at his side when he died on 30 January 2009, from complications following pneumonia.
[Ingemar Johansson, Who Beat Patterson for Heavyweight Title, Dies at 76]
New York Times. 31 January 2009. At the time of his death, he was at age 76 the oldest living heavyweight champion. Johansson was married three times
[ and is survived by five children.
In January 2011, the 1959 Johnny Lion song "Ingemar Johansson", which chronicles the 1959 Patterson fight, was re-released on the compilation album ''From The Vault: The Coed Records Lost Master Tapes, Volume 1''.][Baptista, Todd (March 2011). "Lost and Found", '' Goldmine'', Volume 37, Issue 797, Page 97.]
Legacy
While his victory over Floyd Patterson was a huge upset at the time, Johansson's standing within heavyweight history is fairly poor. Considered to be an ordinary fighter with a very good right hand, the Swede was perhaps fortunate to have met Patterson, one of history's more vulnerable heavyweight champions, for the title. Patterson also likely took the challenge of Johansson lightly, given the Swede's apparently lackadaisical approach to training. This was also at a time when it was considered a virtual impossibility that a European heavyweight could inflict a defeat on an American champion on U.S. soil. Furthermore, Patterson had defended the title just 56 days previously, against Britain's Brian London, and likely considered Johansson to be another inept challenger from Europe.
Johansson's world title victory is still historically significant within European boxing, as he became only the fourth-ever European to become heavyweight champion, and the first since Primo Carnera in 1933, who lost the title to Max Baer almost exactly 25 years before Johansson's triumph. Johansson would be the last European to win the heavyweight title until Italy's Francesco Damiani became the inaugural WBO
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...
heavyweight champion in May 1989. As the WBO was a fledgling sanctioning body at the time and not considered a legitimate world title, it was not until Great Britain's Lennox Lewis was awarded the WBC
WBC may stand for:
Business
*Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS
*Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company
*Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...
title in 1992, 33 years after Johansson's victory over Patterson, that a European again held a recognized version of the heavyweight title. It was also not until 1999, when Lewis unified the titles against Evander Holyfield, that a European again held the undisputed heavyweight championship, as Johansson had 40 years earlier. Johansson was also the last non-American to hold the heavyweight title until South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
's Gerrie Coetzee won the WBA version in 1983.
Despite never successfully defending the title, Johansson can claim to have been a heavyweight champion in two decades (the 1950s and 1960s). He was the first heavyweight champion to lose the title to the man whom he had beaten to become champion since Ezzard Charles's loss to Jersey Joe Walcott
Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the NYSAC, NBA, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight titles from 1951 to 195 ...
in 1951. This would not happen again until September 1978, when Leon Spinks dropped the title back to Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...
, having beaten him in February of that year to become champion.
Outside of Europe, Johansson is best remembered as the opponent whom Patterson beat to become the first man to regain the heavyweight championship. As this loss, and the one which he suffered to the American in their third fight, are his only defeats, Johansson is one of four heavyweight champions to have retired with victories over every opponent he faced as a professional. The others are Rocky Marciano, Gene Tunney
James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 192 ...
and Lennox Lewis.
Although the win over Patterson to claim the heavyweight title is his most famous, Johansson's first-round victory over the undefeated American, Eddie Machen, in 1958 is also noteworthy and provides evidence of the power the Swede held in his right hand. Machen would go on to take Sonny Liston the twelve-round distance in 1960 and lasted into the tenth round against Joe Frazier
Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure ...
in 1966.
Johansson also held the European Boxing Union Heavyweight title on two occasions, scoring stoppage victories over notable foes such as Henry Cooper, Dick Richardson and Joe Erskine.
Professional boxing record
Exhibition boxing record
See also
*List of heavyweight boxing champions
At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...
Notes
References
Further reading
''Ingemar Johansson'', McFarland Publishing (2015) by Ken Brooks. 272 pages.
External links
*
*
*
Ingemar Johansson profile
at Cyber Boxing Zone
ESPN.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johansson, Ingemar
1932 births
2009 deaths
Boxers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Heavyweight boxers
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
Olympic boxers of Sweden
Olympic silver medalists for Sweden
Sportspeople from Gothenburg
World Boxing Association champions
World heavyweight boxing champions
Deaths from pneumonia in Sweden
Olympic medalists in boxing
European Boxing Union champions
Swedish male boxers
Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
The Ring (magazine) champions