Pops was a hard-hitting brawler from Indianapolis who became the first man to win versions of the light heavyweight title three times. A southpaw, he was an outstanding amateur, winning the AAU national title at middleweight and, later, light heavyweight, and also the National Golden Gloves at light heavyweight. He won a bronze medal at middleweight in the Olympics. He won his first world title when he beat Mate Parlov for the WBC crown. He later won the WBA from Victor Galindez and the WBA again from Leslie Stewart, all three times by stoppage. Johnson was a take-all-comers fighter. His first loss was to Matthew Franklin (later Saad Muhammad) and when he won his first title he took on MSM in his initial defense. After he beat Galindez he took on the top contender Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in his first defense. Consequently, he lost in his first defense both times. He seemed to be on his way down after that when he faced a rising Michael Spinks and got KO’d, but he was IIRC still only like 25 (the receding hairline was deceiving) and he won I think 16 in a row over the next three years to get the shot to win his third title, for which he was awarded Ring Magazine’s Comeback Fighter of the Year award for 1984. Nobody ever left a Marvin Johnson fight complaining they didn’t get their money’s worth. The man came to fight every time and wasn’t there to play patty-cake. One of my favorites.
I love Pops - one of my favourite fighters ever. Have said this before, but I think he was slightly unlucky in terms of career timing as there was no Super-Middleweight division in his pomp. I suspect he'd have been perfectly at home at 168 and fell slightly into the category of being too big for Middle, but maybe slightly undersized or lacking in pure brute strength for Light-Heavy, particularly when you look at some of his contemporaries at 175 and their styles. He could box, but his inclinations tended to be aggressive and at times he was too brave for his own good. Despite his Olympic medal his progress was relatively slow in the professional game (in terms of the number of fights he had in his first few years) and it was maybe a touch of inexperience which cost him that first fight against Saad, which was Chavez-Taylor thirteen years before Chavez-Taylor even happened; one guy winning the boxing match, but taking a beating in the process and ultimately losing the physical battle. His style also left him very open to body shots and uppercuts which Eddie and Spinks exposed brutally. But that eagerness to war it out, matched with his own talent and huge heart, made him can't-miss entertainment and in the most exciting era of 175 pounders he was arguably the most consistently exciting of the lot in terms of pure blood 'n' guts. The Saad wars were tremendous and his win over Emebe is a very underrated scrap. Also came out of the traps like a greyhound for that first Stewart fight which was a classic case of the older, grizzled veteran just old-manning a younger, quicker and more athletically talented fighter. Easy for forget he was considered washed up after Spinks flattened him, so putting together another winning run and bagging a third world title against all odds a few years later is a great feather in his cap. Tremendous value for money fighter who made the most of what he had under the circumstances.
He had everything a fight fan wants; power, aggression, shaky defense......outstanding value. His stamina (or ability to pace himself properly) wasn't quite there, but that just made him more exciting. SOMEone was getting taken out, one way or another.
