Instead of defending against 10-1 underdog Tom McNeely in Dec. 1961, Floyd takes on Lightheavy Champ Harold Johnson who had actually won a shot at the title by beating #2 Contender Eddie Machen in July 1961. Who wins? Harold Johnson vs. Eddie Machen (Redirected from Fight:60452) This content is protected Harold Johnson (left) vs. Eddie Machen 1961-07-01 : Harold Johnson 181 lbs beat Eddie Machen 193 lbs by PTS in round 10 of 10 Location: Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA Referee: Paul Cavalier 5-4 Unofficial AP scorecard: 7-3 Johnson Harold Johnson Outpoints Machen ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (UPI) — Harold Johnson, light heavyweight co-champion, narrowly outpointed Eddie Machen, second-ranking heavyweight contender, Saturday night in their nationally-televised, non-title fight but displayed little prowess which might earn him a shot at the heavyweight crown. Referee Paul Cavaliere awarded the decision to Johnson of Philadelphia on a rounds basis, 5-4-1, and the 3,942 fans in the huge Convention Hall greeted the verdict with mingled cheers and boos. It was Johnson's 15th consecutive victory. Johnson had hoped that Saturday night's performance against the No. 2 heavyweight contender would earn him the status of heavyweight challenger. However, it was a comparatively dull bout although spiced with several good exchanges. Johnson, favored at 8 to 5 over Machen of Portland, Ore. and Redding, Calif., was bleeding badly from a gash on his right brow and from the nose at the finish. Machen, 28, had a 12-pound advantage over 32-year-old Johnson. Eddie scaled 193 pounds to Harold's 181. However, it was Johnson who did most of the forcing and landed more of the harder punches. But Harold appeared unable to sustain any effective attacks against his smart, good punching opponent. There were no knockdowns but Machen almost slipped to the canvas in the sixth round while pulling away from a right to the body. Johnson landed two shots below the belt in the seventh round and was accused of thumbing by Machen in the fifth. As he left the ring, Johnson said he strained his left shoulder blocking a right to the head early in the bout. He said the cut on his right brow, sustained in the fifth session, also handicapped him. He added, "I believe the 181 pounds was too heavy for me. I wasn't as fast as I expected to be." It was the heaviest he had weighed in his career. A return bout contract, in case of a Johnson victory, provided for a rematch within 30 days. However, Johnson said he and Machen will fight within 40 days at San Francisco or Portland, Ore.
But if he did bite the bullet and face Johnson ,then there's a real possibility that Floyd ends up.KO'd. A dangerous challenge IMO.
I agree totally. I'm a fan of Floyd to be honest, just not impressed with his title challenge s ..or at least most of em .
Lol at Patterson being KOd by Johnson. The only guys Johnson KOd from 1960 until the end of his career were: Jesse Bowdry who had won 2 of his last 4 and would only 2 more fights over the next three years, Von Clay who was 13-3-2 and had lost 3 of his last 5 fights, Tommy Merrill who had been a pro for nearly 20 years, had lost his last four fights, and had one fight in the last 6 years, and Hank Casey who spent most of his career at MW. Johnson never fought a heavyweight with the combination of speed, power, and size that Patterson brought and when he did fight guys approaching Patterson's size that had any kind of talent he went the distance. Just look at his record: Godoy, Bivins, Henry, Valdez, Charles, Slade, Mederos, Bethea, Whitehurst, Machen. All went the distance with him and its not like all of those guys were bulletproof. Hell, Satterfield went the distance with him twice and his chin was made of fine china.
I agree here, Johnson doesn’t knock out Floyd Would have been a very close fight. Floyd could knock out Johnson if he lands squarely
