How did Liston, Clay, Patterson all miss out on Harold Johnson?

If Johnson was a good fighter, that explains why Patterson didn't fight him.

 

Its a shame, because it would have answered some cross era questions.

 

True. Never fought a top 10 contender.

 

I can remember Liston expressing interest in defending his heavyweight title against Johnson in early 1963. Probably Johnson's loss of the LH title to Willie Pastrano killed any chance of a Liston-Johnson fight. Too bad - it could have been an interesting fight. Johnson may not have won but he might have taken Sonny the distance.

 

Liston was supposed to fight Johnson way back in '56 but it got cancelled when Johnson was injured in training. A relatively green Liston against prime Johnson could have been interesting.

 

Harold Johnson .President of the," Who Needs Him Club".

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Guess the man was too high a risk, for the reward, type of fighter, huh....

 

Because he was a light heavyweight and they were heavyweights?

 

I don't think it would've worked. He said he felt heavy at 180 against Machen. The Machen fight might've been what actually killed his shot at Liston.

 

True. But here's a list of heavyweights he beat: Eddie Machen, Howard King, Bert Whitehurst, Sid Peaks, Wayne Bethea, Bob Satterfield, Marty Marshall, Henry Hall, Nino Valdez, Arturo Godoy, Clarence Henry, Jimmy Bivins, and Ezzard Charles.

 

Me-ow!

 

Apart from Moore, Jackson, Harris, London, Johansson and Liston?