Tell me about Harold Johnson

Everything came off the left jab for Harold Johnson.

His strengths and the relatively few weaknesses were well described by GPater. He was not a defensive virtuoso such as Locche, Pep or Whitaker, but technically he was very solid in parrying the punches and getting out of the way with subtle footwork. Johnson's fight against Doug Jones is one of the best examples in the use of a left jab while nullifying the right hand. He was vulnerable for the right hand though because of his constant use of the left jab. A crafty opponent such as Archie Moore could time him.

Going into a bout thinking you could just drop the right hand on Harold was not wise though, he sure made even the great Archie Moore work for it.

Johnson showing off his countering ability:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yidIDBcsmc[/ame]

1:15, 2:15 & 2:40

 

He kind of missed out on the big paydays. A fight with Marciano, a 6th fight with Moore and a heavyweight title fight against Sonny Liston never materialized.

One notable thing about Harold Johnson is that he was relatively short without an exceptional reach, yet his jab worked against every opponent he ever faced. He did not rely on his reach to outjab opponents.

Pictures:

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Sends Archie flying

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With his father (both men were stopped by Jersey Joe Walcott!)

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His nemesis

 

Both Moore and Charles overshadowed him a bit, and even those guys probably still didn't get the attention they deserve so you can see why Johnson's even less appreciated

 

A Harold Johnson fight against Liston or Ali would have been interesting . It wouldn't surprise me either if he would have gotten a win over either or both. A fight with Bob Foster would be intriguing as well.

 

This was the first good look I have had of Johnson. He apears to be a master of the basics. I'm a fan of the basics. I'm now a fan of Harold Johnson.

 

I scored it to Pastrano, he was the ring general in there. He kept Johnson off-balance expertly and worked the jab well. Really good fight IMO.

 

Yeah Pastrano clearly won. I hate to use the Bull/Matador analogy because it creates excuses for negative cutie fighters, but it works here. Pastrano was in control almost the entire time.

 

Really admire his textbook skills. A real pleasure to watch and also a good boxer to study for those who are learning the basics.

I do wonder how well he would do against today's light heavyweight. Do you think he could have beaten Hopkins or Toney?

 

Hopkins yes. Toney's countering style would give him some issues I think, though.

 

I watched the fight again, and with as much of an unbaised. nonobjective eye as I could muster, and I think Pastrano won it by a razor's edge. He won it not as much for his physical assets of a lightning jab and tireless legs as for his sound, clever strategy of making Johnson come out of his comfort zone and assume the role of the aggressor. This was Pastrano's career best performance, whether you think he won or lost. An underappreciated, painfully underrated fighter Pastrano was amd is. If only he had the dedication and work ethic earlier in his career...the big "if only" I guess. Their fight was a classic textbook chess match, fought at a fairly fast pace and a sustained level of skill by both men for 15 rounds...one of my favorite fights..a defensive/technical masterpiece.

 

He come to Kazakhstan once and tell my father, "Wit time is saddened, must not know a fist in the waves." or something in this effect. I am unmitigate to shed tear when thinking of how papa's eyes shine wit pride to say of this as it was on very metal seatbench during rock rock roll-a-rock games of 1968 when much rain and by Aral Sea where papa go 14 mile on foot so tired with boils and cramp for make bathroom but he make it. Wit pride as Mr. Johnson could empathize merciful. He knew philosophy for boxing wit life. Wise and fancy man wit good counters, both verb and fist!!!