Ingemar Johansson passes away

Former World Heavyweight Champion Ingemar Johansson passed away yesterday from pneumonia. Johansson was considered the greatest boxer to come out of Scandinavia and was involved in one of the most memorable trilogies in Heavyweight history with Floyd Patterson. He represented Sweden in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and made it to the Final, but was disqualified for ‘running’ from Ed Sanders and was stripped of his medal. Johansson claimed that he was trying to tire out his opponent before mounting a third round assault. The medal was given back to him 30 years later.
Johansson turned pro shortly after and won the European Heavyweight title in 1956. He defended it over former Commonwealth Champion (and future World Championship Challenger) Henry Cooper with a 5th round knockout and over current Commonwealth Champion Joe Erksine with a 13th round stoppage win. After a first round knockout win over Ed Machen brought his professional record to 21-0 with 13 KOs, he was given a shot at Floyd Patterson’s Heavyweight Championship.
The first fight between Patterson and Johansson took place in 1959 at Yankee Stadium. After a slow first two rounds in which Patterson was the aggressor (although he later said he wary of Johansson’s power), Johansson unloaded his famous right hand in the 3rd and dropped Patterson heavily. Patterson was up at 7 but started walking to his own corner and Johansson dropped him again. Patterson tried to fight back but was dropped each time he tasted Johansson’s power. After the 7th knockdown in the 3rd round, referee Ruby Goldstein stopped the fight.
A rematch took place almost a year later at the Polo Grounds in New York. The fight went much different with Patterson successfully getting inside against Johansson and in the 5th round he caught Ingemar with a left hook that knocked him out cold, making Patterson the first two-time Heavyweight Champion in boxing history. A rubber match between the two was a natural. It took place in March of 1961 in Miami. Johansson came in at a career high 206lbs (10lb heavier then his first fight with Patterson) and looked sluggish. Still, Johansson caught Patterson in the first round and dropped him twice although Patterson rallied and put Johansson down in the same round. As the fight got older it was clear that Johansson wasn’t going to last and Patterson ended matters in the 6th round.
Johansson fought on and recaptured his European title. In 1963 a fight between Johansson and new Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston was being set up. Johansson fought Brian London in 1963 and was winning handily until the end of the 12th round when London dropped Johansson heavily. Ingemar rose and won the fight on points, but took the knockdown as a sign that his body couldn’t cope with being a professional boxer anymore and retired from the sport with a 26-2 (17 KOs) record. Johansson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002. He was 76.
RIP Ingemar Johansson.