Joe Louis vs Ingemar Johansson

Obviously Louis has to be the heavy favorite here,

but I think Ingo has the style to be less of an easy victim than some assume. He was pretty light on his feet and is not likely to be a stationary target as others have pointed out, and he had a great right hand, one that looks more explosive on film than Schmeling's. And Louis was vulnerable to a right.

Ingo was not a real durable champion, but again he was stopped only by a champion, and his KO'd by percentage is about the same as Schmeling's or Walcott's. He was never just blown out by the first punch.

Louis should be heavily favored to win by a knockout, but those who are dismissing Johansson out of hand are, I think, off base. He is certainly a big underdog, but I think has a ballpark puncher's chance.

 

Yes, a short sparring exhibition toward the end of his career is the best example to use in ****yzing Ingo's strengths and shortcomings.

 

The "legend" of the Johansson-Clay exhibition seems to be overblown.
According to press reports of the time, Johansson, far from being clowned and embarrassed, apparently invited Clay to work with him some more in preparation for the final fight with Patterson.

 

Ingo was a horrible hwt. Period. He would be in any same top 5 worst hwt champion lists. He had a good right hand, a pawing jab and movement that made Carnera look graceful.

 

You need to revisit the tape on him.

 

if you ever were involved in boxing, you would understanding what sparring means, hours and hours, days and days, defensive and aggressive, southpaws, lighter weights, heavier big fellows, movers, and a load more styles, you want to puzzle your boxer, teach him. sometimes the other guy gets puzzled etc, it's called sparring, it's not a boxing contest.

 

Arthur Mercante said that it was the most scary moment of his entire career waiting for Ingo to come round. Writing at the end if his career he said Floyd's hook was the best punch he witnessed and that was the most dangerous knockout He ever officiated on his watch. Howard cossell put his hand over the microphone and actually called up to Arthur as he tended to the unconscious Ingo to enquire if the Swede was dead or not so he could inform his audience!!! It's safe to say that this was the best punch Floyd ever landed, a career highlight for him and no doubting Ingo could never expect to be the same again. It was a bad concussion.

 

Don't know where all this Ingo loving is coming from. He was and is constantly rated as one of the very worst hwt champions. Good right hand but that is it. Back in the 70s and 80s when the worst hwt champions were discussed it was a dog fight between Carnera and Ingo. Nothing has changed in the past 30-40 years that changes that argument! But here in this forum Ingo may give Louis a tough fight but Dempsey was not a great fighter? Can everyone spell convoluted logic?

 

In the late 1970s and very early 1980s Liston and Foreman were not so highly rated either. Boxing history books written by Gilbert Odd and Henry Cooper during this period bare this out.

Nobody is rating Ingo that highly here and I agree he is not worthy to be rated among the greatest champions. In fact I place Primo just one place lower than ingo in my own personal ratings of all the lineer champions. But that is taking his worth over all. He was a sensation for just two fights really. But within the period of the two fights ingo would be a serious proposition for any great heavyweight on a one time deal kind of like Tokyo Douglas.

At the end of the day any champion who genuinely established the status of being the best heavyweight in the world should be taken seriously on his best night.:good

 

Ingo had good footwork

 

Ingo was a bum. One of the very worst hwt champions. Was that way 40 years ago is that way today. Foreman was not rated as an ATG in the 70s and 80s because it was his comeback in the 90s that gave him ATG status. Liston is rated as an ATG by very few historians. Odd being his major proponent.

 

He still had good footwork.:yep