Back in the days when I subscribed to Boxing News, I would love reading Ron Olver's ongoing series of British contenders called 'The Professionals' Ron's style of writing made every little nuance palpable to the reader. And I loved reading and learning about many of these pre-war (WWII) fighters and their very simple hopes of one day fighting for the British title. It had me enamored and I drank in everything he wrote. I don't recall ever reading anything on Johnny King in his series, but I have always been intrigued with his career and cannot help but compare the difference in the game from his era to today. I want to focus on a certain period of time in his career which might help explain what I'm talking about. In May of '33 King was on a 21 bout winning streak, where he won the British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles and was already having his 8th bout of the year in May when he was knocked out by Domenico Bernasconi in the 10th round of a scheduled 15 (no title at stake, it was simply scheduled for 15 which was commonplace at the time). Now, apart from the hectic schedule he kept, the KO loss alone today would have sidelined him for at least a year today (even a win today would have sidelined a fighter, if I'm to be truthful). The fighter today appears to be easily distraught from a loss, has to lick his wounds, see a therapist over the emotional devastation of the loss, until finally be coaxed back into the ring. So when did King return after the loss? 6 days later in another scheduled 15 rounder (stopped his foe in 10), then, 3 weeks later in a successful Commonwealth title defense (it went 15 rounds). If that's not remarkable, 3 weeks later he was fighting Panama Al Brown for his bantamweight crown, which also went 15 rounds in a losing effort. During the war (beginning with the end of '39) until November of '46, King squeezed in 7 more fights. If I was to guess, probably during a furlough from the armed services. He resumed his career for 3 more fights, defending his British bantamweight title for the final time in '47, losing to Jackie Paterson and retired with a record of 162-50-15 (74). This kind of a career does reflect the amount of club shows that was going on in England at the time and the popularity of the sport. Not a career for the meek, but again, commonplace at the time if one also looks at the careers of Joe Curran, Len Beynon Nel Tarleton, etc. Amazing career and an amazing fighter.
