Harold Johnson vs Thomas Hearns 175lbs primes

Harold stops Tommy late, had the skills to nullify his strengths to varying degrees.

 

Fill me in on the tainted orange debacle

 

V

Victor Galindez would murder Tommy Hearns.

 

In a fight vs. HW Julio Mederos, Johnson became visibly weak & collapsed in the 2nd rnd before being stopped by the ringside dr. (a la SRR toward the end of his fight w/ Maxim). Johnson later tested positive for barbiturates, but claimed to have no knowledge of how the drugs got into his system & blamed the failed test on eating some kind of "tainted" orange that an unknown stranger gave to him shortly before the fight. The local Commission didn't buy the story & suspended him, & the controversy as a whole hindered his ability to get fights over the next several years.

Here's a couple of blurbs from the NY Times (I can't access the full articles myself w/o paying):

"PHILADELPHIA, May 6 (UP) --Julio Mederos, a Cuban heavyweight, scored a technical knockout over an apparently sick Harold Johnson tonight when an attending physician at ringside stopped their scheduled ten-round return bout at the end of the second round."

"HARRISBURG, Pa., July 6 (UP) -- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission today placed a six-months suspension on Harold Johnson for his "blackout" loss to Julio Mederos May 6 in Philadelphia. The commission also directed that the light heavyweight's $4,113 purse for the fight be forfeited."

 

That's a strong prediction

 

Galindez was too strong for Tommy. I think he would take control of the fight and give Hearns a beating. I wouldn't want to watch it. I like Tommy Hearns too much.

 

I've always suspected that Blinky Palermo was somewhere in the background of the poisoned orange scandal. It happened in Philly and that was his bailiwick. One thing seems certain: Somebody didn't want Johnson to win that fight and apparently the "smart" money knew something was afoot.

 

Boxing back then was definitely more dangerous,plus,with these mafia controls.... it's a big coinflip where you either get a big 0 or a ton of losses.