I was also unfamiliar with the name, so I just started looking around at what I could find- Funny that the first bit of trivia I found was on Folley instead of him. I never knew that Zora fought in the Korean War! Summerlin looks like a decently strong guy who wasn't necessarily good enough to get too many wins against the best opposition. He has two dropped decisions to an early on Liston back to back, one against an aging Satterfield, one against Machen, and a five round KO in Valdes' favor, amongst other losses and draws against overall unimpressive opposition. Johnny's best wins seem to come against the likes of Zora Folley, Bert Whitehurst, and Harold Carter- With him being awarded two unanimous decisions against the latter part of the three (With Whitehurst being rushed to a hospital after the match, as he collapsed in his dressing room after the decision), and a win against Folley due to Zora's trainer suspecting that his fighter had a broken jaw after three knockdowns (Once in the first, twice in the sixth). I also found out Summerlin retired after the Valdes fight due to numerous small hemorrhages in his brain, in which he was immediately brought to Henry Ford Hospital and diagnosed with hypesthesia. Johnny was completely numb on the left side of his body, and knew for weeks without saying a thing- Even when he saw his doctor (Robert Benett, who had apparently been a physician for Ali and Ray Robinson) for a checkup the night before his fateful fight with Nino, Summerlin didn't take his doctor's advice to skip the fight and get seen for an appointment at a nearby hospital instead. Johnny was shy three months of being a pro for eight years, but it was decided that after this incident, he was "permanently disabled for boxing". [url]https://vault.si.com/vault/1958/06/16/a-surprise-party-with-punch[/url]
Extant footage shows that Summerlin wasn't the sort to run away from Liston, and had improved in their rematch despite entering that contest with a broken nose! What happens in Summerlin-Liston III if Johnny remained healthy? Summerlin is one of HW boxing's greatest "What if?" mysteries.
Don't thank me, thank Magoo for making the thread. I'll research a bit on anything I don't know, but I can't look for it if I ain't told first! Heh. That being said, I do appreciate it. It's a good feeling to learn something and spread it around.
WHY is he one of boxing's great what-ifs? I've seen films of him. He looks like what he was -- a second-tier 1950s heavyweight. Nobody would confuse him with a champion or a top-five contender. I can't imagine him giving Marciano or Patterson a tough fight.
Styles, and the accomplishment of having competed with Sonny twice. Liston wasn't going to intimidate Summerlin. Marciano was gone, but he could well extend Floyd the Championship Distance before Liston gets to Patterson. In that case, Summerlin might get to Sonny before young Clay. And what if Liston needed Summerlin III to get to Floyd? In 1968, Floyd's inexperience with and lack of confidence in his ability in Sweden. What if Patterson already knew he could do this limit already?
I'm a little confused by your post but I'll just say I read somewhere that Liston was nervous and a little scared before squaring off against Summerlin, who was already making a name for himself. Liston had had only five pro fights and was still green. Was one of those 1954 Liston-Summerlin bouts televised?
Good fighter,good enough to beat; Young JackJohnson Bert Whitehurst Zora Folley Charlie Powell 2 losses to Liston derailed him for awhile but he got back on track then he lost to Satterfield , and 2 more to Harold Carter in some kind of eliminator and a ko defeat to Nino Valdes put an end to his career. Just realized good posters Totentanz and Anubis had covered this ,I responded without reading the replies.
A year or two ago I found this fight out there and totally enjoyed it. From my writeup below, I was very impressed with Summerlin's straight right. He was a solid contender. Eddie Machen v Johnny Summerlin I was rummaging around today to find a decent fight to peruse and I found one with Machen v Summerlin. Here we go on the NY rounds scoring system. Round 1: Machen Round 2: Machen Round 3: Summerlin Round 4: Machen Round 5: Summerlin Round 6: Summerlin Round 7: Machen Round 8: Machen Round 9: Machen Round 10: Machen Total: 7-3 Machen (actual scores: 7-3, 7-3 and 6-3-1 all for Machen - although the ring announcer called the last card as 6-4) After 6 rounds this was anybody's fight. Machen's short-punching against Summerlin's body-punching and hard straight right. It wasn't until the 7th that Machen began showing some kind of urgency and took over from there. The 9th and 10th were Machen's biggest rounds and he came close to ending the show, but Summerlin was fighting back hard at the final bell and the ref had to come between them. I was very impressed with Summerlin's straight right, which Eddie had an issue getting away from. A very good fight between a hot prospect and proven contender.
