He beat Ezzard Charles Archie Moore Eddie Machen Nino Valdes Clarence Henry Wayne Bethea Doug Jones Jimmy Slade Bob Satterfield All of these men were either ranked in the top 10 at heavyweight by Ring Magazine at the time they fought Johnson, or had been/would be within a year of fighting Johnson. That is quite an impressive list :shock: He was also scheduled to fight Sonny Liston in 1956. 4 days before the fight, Johnson backed out and Marshall took his place. Rumors floated around in the early 50s that Johnson was beating up Liston in sparring. Also I read Patterson wanted no part of Johnson in the late 50s for a title defense. Too much of a risk. Marciano's camp also was not keen on facing Johnson after he beat the top two heavyweight contenders in 1953. Even in 1963, Muhammad Ali was not about to get in the ring with Harold Johnson after the Doug Jones fights.
I also heard Johnson was beating up Liston in the gym...the last of the 5'10 180lb Mohicans but he proved he could beat the big guys
Most underrated HW of all time. He beat Charles and Machen years apart at a time when each was arguably the best HW technician in the division, at a time when each almost certainly had the best left hand in that division. Except neither one of these things is true about either one because Johnson was better in both departments. And he beat them at their own games, too. He beat them technically with his left hand, predominantly.
Always thought he has one of the greatest resumes of all time. But that list of defeated HWs is really impressive!
Could maybe make a case for him being one of the best to never challenge for the HW title. He was in line for a shot at Marciano but opted to challenge Moore for his LHW belt instead and got knocked out. Odd, he doesn't seem to be in the mix after that despite continuing to have success.
Here's Johnson's opponents top yearly Ring ratings-- Champion--Ezzard Charles #1 contender--Jimmy Bivins, Nino Valdes, Archie Moore, Eddie Machen #2 contender--Arturo Godoy, Doug Jones #3 contender--Clarence Henry #8 contender--Bob Satterfield, Wayne Bethea #10 contender--Jimmy Slade Johnson defeated heavyweight contenders rated from 1936 (Godoy at #10) to 1965 (Jones at #eight)
