Marvin Johnson Discussion

Just a superb thread, Magoo:good:good! Thanks a million! All the contris on this thread have been superb!! Thanks guys. This is a massive reason why I read the Classic. The fact is Marvin fought in one of the greatest eras of any division ever! You could catch so many of those fights on free TV on Saturday afternoons during those days. That era of 175ers was LOADED!! And, imho, Marvin is underrated. He ran into a great list of fighters and came out on top many times. Superb action fighter and never a disappointing performance. Great stuff!!

 

He took a horrible pasting in the rematch with Stewart; his mug was a magnet for those right hands. He looked a shopworn fighter the first time around but his legs were all over the place from the very start in the rematch. F*ck knows how he managed to last eight rounds.


His fight with Jean-Marie Emebe is one of the great, overlooked fights of the 1980's.

 

Pops Johnson was one of the best fighters in the best era of the Light Heavyweights. He may not have been the best, but that doesn't really matter. He came to fight, and left no excuses. He was one of my favorite fighters to watch. He is definately underrated.

 

Johnson was a guy that you better be prepared for ! He always started out fats and he had good power until later in the fight. Very aggressive southpaw with a busy and sharp left hand.uppercut as well. He would kind of fade as the fight went late and that`s when the elite fighters would get him... Spinks caught him earlier with that hellacious left uppercut . Johson was a good exciting champion. Tough part for him was he fought in an era when the 175 lbs. class was extremely tough...

 

Another reason that Johnson was a nasty,tough guy... I read years ago that Johnson said he did not bath while in training camp ! Might explain why he was dangerous fighting at close quarters !

 

Clever, kinda like how guys in prison will not use proper hygiene as a deterrent to any possible unwanted advances per say. An acquaintance of mine knows him well and confirms this. They worked together alot in the amateurs but there is no denying this guy was a beast, he had nasty power and knocked out alot of his opponents.

After losing to Spinks, he fought some journeyman type boxer, Dan Hayes or Haynes (not sure on the name) and hit him in the ribs early in rd 1 and broke multiple ribs which ultimately led to the guy not being able to breath, probably a collapsed lung, Johnson put the mustard on alot of his victims .

 

Lots of great posts... He was an all-action warrior. Nice to see that`s how he remembered...

 

Good to read so many nice comments about Johnson. The man was a heck of fighter, seemed to always give his all.

If I remember correctly, I think Marvin work for the Sheriff's department, so maybe after boxing he did that full time. Don't know for certain.

 

Just flicked through this excellent thread and noticed that perhaps bit of trivia about Johnson had not been mentioned. Marvin Johnson literally stunk! And I mean literally!

As he felt showering after he began training for a fight would weaken him....

It thus added a bit of 'punch' to that first clinch.

 

Actually, someone beat you to that one a few posts above. It seems he's quite famous for that.

 

Yep, Waynegrady beat me to the punch I smelt a mile back, yet still I was suckered into it. I have always been a bit chinny!

 

Big fan of Marvin. Had to chance to go to the Franklin fight in Philly and turned it down. Oops. Fought everybody, ducked nobody, gave his all every fight what more could you ask? Glad he is doing well

 

Saad and Mustafa were Johnson's mandatory challengers. He had no choice except to fight them in his first defenses.