Sad end to a rough life for Johnny. I rooted for him when he was coming up. He was part of that Nashville amateur scene where the sheriff department ran a boxing program and they brought in guys from around the country. Clint Jackson and Jerome Coffee and others. They were basically pros fighting as amateurs — they were given ‘show up but don’t have to do much’ jobs so they could concentrate on training. I think his addiction and drug problems were inevitable, but strictly looking at the boxing side, I think he’s one of George Benton/Lou Duva’s mistakes. No trainer/manager bats 1.000, everyone miscalculates sometimes (see Eddie Futch’s game plan to have Michael Spinks go out to throw right leads at Mike Tyson — fight lasted 91 seconds with Spinks on the canvas for several of those and he threw I think a dozen right leaders … no idea what Eddie was thinking but that was clearly what they set out to do). To me there were two major mistakes: 1) Having Bumphus go from pure southpaw to switch hitter when there was no reason for it other than maybe they saw Marvin Hagler and thought ‘let’s try that’; and 2) not working to make Johnny more of a pure boxer and out-fighter. He just wasn’t natural enough at switch hitting to get away with all that changing stances stuff and it made him think rather than reacting, and he wasn’t durable enough to stand toe-to-toe with opponents who were more solid and strong than he was — WTF is someone thinking to throw away height and reach to fight Gene Hatcher in a phone booth? It gave Gene his only opportunity to win, and he seized it … give him some lateral movement, stick and move, and it’s probably a cakewalk to a decision. On top of that, Johnny wasn’t a big enough puncher to be that kind of fighter, especially at 147. I think they should have used Pernell Whitaker as a stylistic model for this long, lean prospect and instead they tried to make him more of a Meldrick Taylor, but Bumphus wasn’t a punching machine with blazing speed like Meldrick, and. Taylor needed to be in closer range to be effective because he was a short-armed guy. Who knows? Maybe he just had too much pit bull in him mentally and they couldn’t get him to use his natural advantages and keep him out of wars. That happens. But it seems pretty calculated that he was always in the pocket rather than in and out of it and using his reach more to set up clean, straight shots. I don’t blame Duva for kicking him to the curb. Addicts (and alcoholics) have to reach rock bottom, and sometimes you can’t do anything for him. Paying for rehab twice, they did what they could for him. Shelly Finkel stepping in to pay for a third rehab was certainly enough chances, and good to see Lou was there to reconcile when Bumphus got his life straightened out — but the damage was done, and all the stuff Johnny did to abuse his body undoubtedly contributed to his early end. RIP Johnny. You were a warrior. I hope you’ve found peace in the great beyond.
Pride of Hilltop, an area in Tacoma that was really, really bad in the 80's and into the 90's. Scary neighborhood. Crack everywhere. Gunfights. I imagine he saw some pretty bad stuff and drugs were only an arm's length away. Probably didn't help that Johnny was supposed to be on that Polish flight that crashed in 1980. Not sure how well he knew those guys. As far as boxing @Saintpat hits it better than I could. He seemed to fight the wrong style for his attributes, getting in the trenches when he could opt to control things from a distance. He just leveled the playing field for his opposition.
I used to train and spar in that gym, the Al Davies Boys Club, in the Hilltop area. Took the bus and walked several blocks. I was never bothered by anyone, but it was not a great neighborhood. I saw Johnny there once. Didn't talk to him or anything. This would have been shortly before Honeyghan stopped him.
