https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR89B4kcOM&list=UUAFNH6TPZJDtShi5SfqZQ5A&index=39 The other day I had a fine conversation with Bengt Risberg, a Swede who sat ringside at the Machen-Johansson fight. Bengt a cousin of Lennart Risberg, who fought on the undercard, told me, that Machen felt very affected by the cold weather on the outdoor stadion. Machen entered the ring 15 minutes before Johansson and he had to wait another 15 minutes before the fight got on. It was a normal procedure on the Swedish shows - it all went to Johannson advantage. In a historical view - it is an important fight to be renembered as it changed the heavyweight divison the next 3 years - when Johanson went on to fight his three fights with Floyd Patterson. If Johanson had lost - Patterson would´ve have defended against US-fighters and most likely lost the title to one of the challengers in line.
Altogether a nightmarish experience for Eddie, but I have much admiration for him...and how he put it behind him and had the ***** to give Sonny Liston a go of it...refusing to be intimidated and actually taunting Sonny at times....going all the way to the limit...even if he did lose, he showed that he had more ***** than just about anyone else in dealing with Liston. A few years before Cassius Clay.
Mcgrain please eloborate. If eddie won ,i feel floyd would have taken him in title fight as well as folley,johnson,arch all cept sonny
