Harold Johnson 1928-2015

[IronDanHamza]

Charles had an even better resume than Johnson, that's why he may be regarded as the best ever lhw and his legacy is enhanced by his hw run.

Charles fought from w to hw, he is in a different league to johnson.

As I've said before, I rate Johnson but to rank him alongside Charles, Moore, Foster and the like is wrong.

Obviously Charles is greater.

But your bull**** reasoning is stupid.

"Johnson's reign was too short" I ask again, why was it too short? Do you even know?

Ezzard Charles didn't even have a reign. So where do you rank him?

Charles was stopped more times than Johnson was.

And also, Johnson's resume blows Foster's out the water.

[IronDanHamza]

am I wrong in what I said? He was KOd, Charles and Moore were superior when it came to being big fight players. I have spoken about Johnson years ago, long before this thread, in a greatest of LHW division thread I made. I rate him but he isn't comparable to the iconic champions of the division. That's the truth.

If you don't like it, it's up to you.

Yes you were wrong. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

You said "he was stopped too many times by people he shouldn't have been stopped by"

Ok, tell me about that. Elaborate on that.

Do some research.

[MisterHardtop]

Harold Johnson was a very good fighter and his greatest attribute was that he was smarter than most fighters around him at the same time...dare I say it? He was smarter than Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles.

I had the luxury of meeting the man on a couple of different occasions and he was a gentleman and still pretty sharp. It was that brain, that keenness of thought that allowed him impress himself on so many top level fighters. He wasn't particularly quick, nor did he have the exceptional physical attributes of the exceptionally talented but he worked harder than just about anybody else out there. There are stories of his legendary training regimens, he was the definition of a work horse.

Now, how would I rate him? That is tough question for me to answer. It was rare to watch Charles or Moore, two stand out names of their age on British TV or hear about them on Radio over here in the UK. I would have to buy The Ring with what little I had or get the rare sport report announcing winners and maybe tid bits of the fights themselves. Johnson was an even more obscure name. However, with the advent of the internet, it has been great to go back and what those illustrious names of the black and white age and as I entered the sport myself in the late 60s, everyone I met spoke of Johnson in hushed tones of reverence.

So, how would I rate him? Well, from what I have seen and heard and read, he would be a worthy top 20 in any light-heavyweight list.

[Keleneki]

Rest In Peace, Mr. Johnson.