How the hell did Johansson vs. Machen get to be the 1958 round of the year?

There is a point when ‘fight of the year’ or ‘round of the year’ (and probably some other categories) really reflected it as more of a ‘most memorable’ or ‘made the biggest impact on the sport/division’ kind of thing than actually being for the best fight or round.

I think it’s more ‘this round changed the entire direction of the heavyweight picture’ than ‘wow what a great back-and-forth round.’

Times change.

 

Very good explanation.

 

These type of lists are always biased towards heavyweight fights. It was also an abysmal refereeing performance. The ref just stood there while Johansson pounded away at a completely helpless Machen.

 

We are still watching it on Youtube today aren't we?

 

What was the best round in 1958?

 

Because on Sept 14 1958, Eddie Machen was the no.1 contender for Floyd Patterson's title. Many in the press and boxing public thought that Eddie would eventually unseat the reigning champion based on his inactivity and quality of opposition. Eddie was favored to win and get a mandatory title shot against Floyd. That first right hand that Ingo blasted home was a good one, after Machen had kept backing up Ingo. After the first knockdown, Ingo then began to back up Eddie, until the end. the fight had been back and forth during that round 1.

 

I strongly agree with Saintpat on the way the Ring viewed the fight, and I think that such considerations are legitimate.

The Johansson-Machen fight was a big upset and it set up the most important title defense since the days of Marciano. Patterson's title tenure had been uneventful and D'Amato was actively dodging other legitimate contenders under the claim they were IBC fighters. Johansson was a breath of fresh air that the sport needed. Thus the round was more important to boxing then than any round of any lesser fight. It was also a knockout round and knockout rounds are more dramatic than rounds in a fight like Robison-Basilio which didn't even have a knockdown. The Moore round was exciting but it didn't end the fight. It just was a set-up round for the rest of an exciting fight.

Also, you may be big on the "boxing" part of the sport, but Johansson utterly destroyed Machen in that fight. It was one helluva knockout. I like boxing too, but fans pay to see a puncher. And say what you like about Ingo, he could punch

 

I totally agree, Ingo's Bingo was no joke, and yes a breath of fresh air. The way he derailed Machen's plans was just plain devastating.