Marvin Johnson (boxer)

Marvin Johnson

Personal information
Born	April 12, 1954 (1954-04-12) (age 70) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Medal record Men's boxing Representing the United States Olympic Games 1972 Munich Middleweight North American Championships 1971 Latham Light heavyweight

Marvin Johnson (born April 12, 1954) is an American former boxer who was a 3-time light-heavyweight champion of the world. As an amateur, Johnson fought in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, winning a bronze medal, and made his way up the professional ranks in the light heavyweight division soon thereafter. Johnson was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008 alongside Lennox Lewis and Pernell Whitaker. His nickname is "Pops".

Amateur career

Won the 1971 National Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Championship, March 22 at Fort Worth, Texas:

Won the 1971 National AAU Light Heavyweight (178 lb.) Championship, May 1 at New Orleans, Louisiana:

• Finals: Defeated Hernando Molyneaux KO 1

Won the 1971 North American (178 lb.) Championship, May 31 at Latham, New York:

• Defeated William Titley (Canada) TKO 1

Won The 1972 National Golden Gloves Middleweight (165 lb.) Championship, March 20 at Minneapolis, Minnesota:

• 1/2: Defeated Joey Hadley by decision (Hadley cut under both eyes)
• Finals: Defeated Don Rucker KO 2 (0:50)

Represented the United States at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, earning a bronze medal in the 165 pound class, after he was knocked out in the second round of a semifinal by eventual gold medalist Vyacheslav Lemeshev of the Soviet Union.

1972 Olympic results

Below are the results of Marvin Johnson, an American middleweight boxer, who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics:

• Round of 32: bye
• Round of 16: Defeated Ewald Jarmer (West Germany) by unanimous decision, 5–0
• Quarterfinal: Defeated Alejandro Montoya (Cuba) by unanimous decision, 5–0
• Semifinal: Lost to Vyacheslav Lemeshev (Soviet Union) by second-round TKO (was awarded bronze medal)

Professional career

As a professional, Johnson won his first 15 bouts, including a nationally televised 4th round knockout over highly regarded veteran Tom "The Bomb" Bethea. However, Johnson lost for the first time as a professional in his next fight, against rising contender Matthew Franklin (later known as Matthew Saad Muhammad) by 12th round knockout in a furious battle for the NABF light heavyweight title. Following this setback, Johnson rallied, not for the first time in his career, impressively winning several bouts, until losing a decision to highly ranked Lottie Mwale. A subsequent win over Jerry Celestine set up a world title fight, which saw Johnson taking the WBC light heavyweight crown from fellow southpaw Mate Parlov of Yugoslavia via 10th-round KO in Italy in December 1978. For his first title defense, in April of 1979, Johnson chose Matthew Franklin, the very man who had beaten him in an epic war two years earlier. In front of his hometown Indianapolis fans, Johnson engaged Franklin in a rematch of such intensity and drama that it is regarded among boxing historians as one of the greatest title fights in history. Mirroring their first brutal encounter, Johnson controlled the early going, but the Philadelphia-based Franklin gamely hung in. The tide turned in the 6th and 7th rounds as Johnson began to tire. Ultimately Franklin prevailed in the 8th, a round of such ferocity that it would enter boxing lore, stopping Johnson late in the frame, despite bleeding severely himself from the nose and from cuts around both eyes.

Showing the resilience that would mark his career, Johnson would again win a world title belt later that very year—this time the WBA version—by fighting the rugged Victor Galindez from Argentina in New Orleans as part of a three-fight 'television card' that included two title bouts (Antuofermo-Hagler I and Benitez-Leonard) staged in Las Vegas. After a see-saw battle through the first ten rounds, Johnson nailed—and floored—Galindez with one of his fabled 'over-the-top-from-underneath' left hands, and the title changed hands when the champion's corner surrendered after Galindez hit the canvas.

As with his previous first title defense, Johnson again chose the strongest available contender to challenge for his belt, this time Eddie Gregory (later to be known as Eddie Mustafa Muhammad). On the Tate–Weaver undercard in Knoxville in March of 1980, Johnson fought courageously, but ultimately succumbed to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (née Gregory), who used a vicious body attack to outwork, out-hustle and out last the game champion en route to an 11th-round TKO victory.

Things looked bleak when Johnson fought the up-and-coming Michael Spinks in early 1981—just before Spinks dethroned Johnson's latest conqueror, Mustafa Muhammad. Johnson was off to a promising start, but the 1976 Olympian Spinks landed his famous "Spinks jinx" that put Johnson out for good in the fourth round.

Johnson recovered and proceeded to win 16 straight fights, defeating good fighters like Prince Charles Williams along the way, and in February 1986 would again be before his Indianapolis fans, fighting Leslie Stewart of Trinidad and Tobago for the WBA light heavyweight title that became vacant when Spinks abdicated to become a heavyweight. Stewart gave Johnson some fits, but cuts would take their toll on Stewart and were the reason that the fight was stopped in the seventh round, thus making Johnson the first ever three-time champion in the division. An injury postponed his first defense against Jean-Marie Emebe of Cameroon, but the two would hook up in Indianapolis in September of that year. It was the first time that Johnson would both enter and leave the ring as champion—he was the winner by 13th-round TKO.

Next, it was on to Trinidad and Tobago for a rematch with Stewart on May 23, 1987. However, it was all Stewart this time, as he floored Johnson several times in the first few rounds, and while Johnson always regained his feet and was never counted out he did tell his cornermen after eight rounds that 'enough was enough,' and by doing so became an ex-champ for a third time.

Johnson retired after that bout.

Honors

Named The Ring magazine Comeback of the Year fighter for 1984.

Professional boxing record

43 Wins (35 knockouts, 8 decisions), 6 Losses (5 knockouts, 1 decision)
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	43–6	Leslie Stewart	RTD	8	1987-05-23	Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago	Lost WBA World Light Heavyweight Title
Win	43–5	Jean Marie Emebe	TKO	13	1986-09-20	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Retained WBA World Light Heavyweight Title
Win	42–5	Leslie Stewart	TKO	7	1986-02-09	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Won WBA World Light Heavyweight Title
Win	41–5	Frank Lux	KO	4	1985-12-04	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	40–5	Raleigh Searcy	KO	4	1985-10-11	Terre Haute, Indiana, United States
Win	39–5	Eddie Davis	TKO	5	1985-04-21	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Won USBA Light Heavyweight Title
Win	38–5	Charles Henderson	TKO	2	1985-01-17	Merrillville, Indiana, United States
Win	37–5	Eddie Collins	KO	2	1984-12-13	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	36–5	Charles Williams	UD	10	1984-11-08	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	35–5	Johnny Davis	UD	10	1984-08-30	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	34–5	Jerome Clouden	TKO	5	1984-06-14	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	33–5	Eddie Gonzales	KO	4	1984-03-26	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	32–5	Elvis Parks	KO	4	1984-01-18	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	31–5	Mike Brothers	TKO	10	1983-11-21	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	30–5	Andros Ernie Barr	KO	8	1983-02-25	Nassau, Bahamas
Win	29–5	Alvino Manson	KO	1	1982-10-14	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	28–5	Darnell Hayes	TKO	2	1982-04-06	Danville, Illinois, United States
Loss	27–5	Michael Spinks	KO	4	1981-03-28	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	27–4	Rick Nash	KO	3	1981-01-28	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	26–4	Eddie Straight	KO	1	1981-01-15	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	25–4	Dave Lee Royster	KO	4	1980-09-09	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	24–4	Eddie Mustafa Muhammad	TKO	11	1980-03-31	Knoxville, Tennessee, United States	Lost WBA World Light Heavyweight Title
Win	24–3	Victor Galindez	KO	11	1979-11-30	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States	Won WBA World Light Heavyweight Title
Win	23–3	Carlos Marks	PTS	10	1979-09-20	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Loss	22–3	Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	8	1979-04-22	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Lost WBC World Light Heavyweight Title
Win	22–2	Mate Parlov	TKO	10	1978-12-02	Marsala, Sicily, Italy	Won WBC World Light Heavyweight Title
Win	21–2	Jerry Celestine	PTS	10	1978-09-15	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Loss	20–2	Lottie Mwale	PTS	8	1978-06-17	Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Win	20–1	Johnny Baldwin	UD	10	1978-05-24	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	19–1	Eddie Davis	KO	7	1978-04-03	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	18–1	Roberto Reynosa	KO	1	1978-01-31	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	17–1	Billy Douglas	TKO	5	1977-11-01	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	16–1	Johnny Fields	KO	1	1977-09-28	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Loss	15–1	Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	12	1977-07-26	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States	For NABF Light Heavyweight Title
Win	15–0	Tom Bethea	KO	4	1977-04-22	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	14–0	Johnny Townsend	PTS	10	1977-02-21	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	13–0	Vandell Woods	PTS	10	1976-11-30	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	12–0	Wayne McGee	TKO	1	1976-09-14	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	11–0	Harold Carter	TKO	2	1976-04-15	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	10–0	Ray Anderson	TKO	6	1976-04-03	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	9–0	Eddie Owens	KO	3	1975-11-13	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	8–0	Paul Cardoza	KO	4	1975-04-17	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	7–0	Gary Summerhays	PTS	10	1975-01-29	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	6–0	Jim Adams	KO	1	1974-12-11	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	5–0	Johnny Words	TKO	6	1974-11-12	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	4–0	Ted Paxton	KO	2	1974-07-17	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	3–0	Chuck Warfield	TKO	5	1973-10-30	Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Win	2–0	Al Byrd	KO	1	1973-09-17	Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Win	1–0	Sylvester Wilder	KO	2	1973-05-22	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Wilder knocked out at 1:30 of the second round.

Life after boxing

Johnson currently serves as a civilian employee for the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he formerly served as a Deputy.

External links

• Boxing record for Marvin Johnson from BoxRec (registration required)
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Marvin Johnson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.