Marvin Johnson (boxer)

Marvin Johnson
Born	Marvin Johnson (1954-04-12) April 12, 1954 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Nationality	American
Other names	Pops
Statistics
Weight(s)	Light heavyweight
Height	5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (179 cm)
Reach	72+1⁄2 in (184 cm)
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	49
Wins	43
Wins by KO	35
Losses	6
Medal record Representing United States Olympic Games 1972 Munich Middleweight

Marvin Johnson (born April 12, 1954) is an American former boxer who was a 3-time light-heavyweight champion of the world. As an amateur, Johnson fought in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, winning a bronze medal, and made his way up the professional ranks in the light heavyweight division soon thereafter. Johnson was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008 alongside Lennox Lewis and Pernell Whitaker. His nickname is "Pops".

Amateur career

Won the 1971 National Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Championship, March 22 at Fort Worth, Texas:

Won the 1971 National AAU Light Heavyweight (178 lb.) Championship, May 1 at New Orleans, Louisiana:

• Finals: Defeated Hernando Molyneaux KO 1

Won the 1971 North American (178 lb.) Championship, May 31 at Latham, New York:

• Defeated William Titley (Canada) TKO 1

Won The 1972 National Golden Gloves Middleweight (165 lb.) Championship, March 20 at Minneapolis, Minnesota:

• 1/2: Defeated Joey Hadley by decision (Hadley cut under both eyes)
• Finals: Defeated Don Rucker KO 2 (0:50)

Represented the United States at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, earning a bronze medal in the 165 pound class, after he was knocked out in the semifinal by eventual gold medalist Vyacheslav Lemeshev of the Soviet Union.

1972 Olympic results

Below are the results of Marvin Johnson, an American middleweight boxer, who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics:

• Round of 16: Defeated Ewald Jarmer (West Germany) by unanimous decision, 5–0
• Quarterfinal: Defeated Alejandro Montoya (Cuba) by unanimous decision, 5–0
• Semifinal: Lost to Vyacheslav Lemeshev (Soviet Union) by second-round TKO (was awarded bronze medal)

Professional career

As a professional, Johnson won his first 15 bouts, including a nationally televised 4th round knockout over highly regarded veteran Tom "The Bomb" Bethea. However, Johnson lost for the first time as a professional in his next fight, against rising contender Matthew Franklin (later known as Matthew Saad Muhammad) by 12th round knockout in a furious battle for the NABF light heavyweight title. Following this setback, Johnson rallied, not for the last time in his career, impressively winning several bouts, until losing a decision to highly ranked Lottie Mwale. A subsequent win over Jerry Celestine set up a world title fight, which saw Johnson taking the WBC light heavyweight crown from fellow southpaw Mate Parlov of Yugoslavia via 10th-round KO in Italy in December 1978. For his first title defense, in April 1979, Johnson chose Matthew Franklin, the very man who had beaten him in an epic war two years earlier. In front of his hometown Indianapolis fans, Johnson engaged Franklin in a rematch of such intensity and drama that it is regarded among boxing historians as one of the greatest title fights in history. Mirroring their first brutal encounter, Johnson controlled the early going, but the Philadelphia-based Franklin gamely hung in. The tide turned in the 6th and 7th rounds as Johnson began to tire. Ultimately Franklin prevailed in the 8th, a round of such ferocity that it would enter boxing lore, stopping Johnson late in the frame, despite bleeding severely himself from the nose and from cuts around both eyes.

Showing the resilience that would mark his career, Johnson would again win a world title belt later that very year—this time the WBA version—by fighting the rugged Victor Galindez from Argentina in New Orleans as part of a three-fight 'television card' that included two title bouts (Antuofermo-Hagler I and Benitez-Leonard) staged in Las Vegas. After a see-saw battle through the first ten rounds, Johnson nailed—and floored—Galindez with one of his fabled 'over-the-top-from-underneath' left hands, and the title changed hands when the champion's corner surrendered after Galindez hit the canvas.

As with his previous first title defense, Johnson again chose the strongest available contender to challenge for his belt, this time Eddie Gregory (later to be known as Eddie Mustafa Muhammad). On the Tate–Weaver undercard in Knoxville in March 1980, Johnson fought courageously, but ultimately succumbed to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (né Gregory), who used a vicious body attack to outwork, out-hustle and out last the game champion en route to an 11th-round TKO victory.

Things looked bleak when Johnson fought the up-and-coming Michael Spinks in early 1981—just before Spinks dethroned Johnson's latest conqueror, Mustafa Muhammad. Johnson was off to a promising start, but the 1976 Olympian Spinks landed his famous "Spinks jinx" that put Johnson out for good in the fourth round.

Johnson recovered and proceeded to win 16 straight fights, defeating good fighters like Charles Williams along the way, and in February 1986 would again be before his Indianapolis fans, fighting Leslie Stewart of Trinidad and Tobago for the WBA light heavyweight title that became vacant when Spinks abdicated to become a heavyweight. Stewart gave Johnson some fits, but cuts would take their toll on Stewart and were the reason that the fight was stopped in the seventh round, thus making Johnson the first ever three-time champion in the division. An injury postponed his first defense against Jean-Marie Emebe of Cameroon, but the two would hook up in Indianapolis in September of that year. It was the first time that Johnson would both enter and leave the ring as champion—he was the winner by 13th-round TKO.

Next, it was on to Trinidad and Tobago for a rematch with Stewart on May 23, 1987. However, it was all Stewart this time, as he floored Johnson several times in the first few rounds, and while Johnson always regained his feet and was never counted out he did tell his cornermen after eight rounds that 'enough was enough,' and by doing so became an ex-champ for a third time.

Johnson retired after that bout.

Honors

Named The Ring magazine Comeback of the Year fighter for 1984.

Professional boxing record

49 fights	43 wins	6 losses
By knockout	35	5
By decision	8	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
49	Loss	43–6	Leslie Stewart	RTD	8 (12)	1987-05-23	National Stadium, Port-of-Spain	Lost WBA Light heavyweight title
48	Win	43–5	Jean Marie Emebe	TKO	13 (15)	1986-09-20	Market Square Arena, Indianapolis	Retained WBA Light heavyweight title
47	Win	42–5	Leslie Stewart	TKO	7 (15)	1986-02-09	Market Square Arena, Indianapolis	Won vacant WBA Light heavyweight title
46	Win	41–5	Frank Lux	KO	4 (10)	1985-12-04	Market Square Arena, Indianapolis
45	Win	40–5	Raleigh Searcy	TKO	4 (10)	1985-10-11	Hulman Center, Terre Haute
44	Win	39–5	Eddie Davis	TKO	5 (12)	1985-04-21	Sands Casino Hotel, Atlantic City	Won USBA Light heavyweight title
43	Win	38–5	Charles Henderson	TKO	2 (10)	1985-01-17	Holiday Star Theater, Merrillville
42	Win	37–5	Eddie Collins	KO	2 (10)	1984-12-13	Sands Casino Hotel, Atlantic City
41	Win	36–5	Charles Williams	UD	10 (10)	1984-11-08	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
40	Win	35–5	Johnny Davis	UD	10 (10)	1984-08-30	Sands Casino Hotel, Atlantic City
39	Win	34–5	Jerome Clouden	RTD	5 (10)	1984-06-14	Sands Casino Hotel, Atlantic City
38	Win	33–5	Eddie Gonzales	KO	4 (10)	1984-03-26	Sands Casino Hotel, Atlantic City
37	Win	32–5	Elvis Parks	TKO	4 (10)	1984-01-18	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
36	Win	31–5	Mike Brothers	TKO	10 (10)	1983-11-21	Americana Congress Hotel, Chicago
35	Win	30–5	Andros Ernie Barr	TKO	8 (10)	1983-02-25	Nassau
34	Win	29–5	Alvino Manson	KO	1 (12)	1982-10-14	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
33	Win	28–5	Darnell Hayes	TKO	2 (10)	1982-04-06	Civic Center, Danville
32	Loss	27–5	Michael Spinks	KO	4 (10)	1981-03-28	Resorts International, Atlantic City
31	Win	27–4	Rick Nash	TKO	3 (8)	1981-01-28	Atkinson Hotel, Indianapolis
30	Win	26–4	Eddie Straight	TKO	1 (10)	1981-01-15	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
29	Win	25–4	Dave Lee Royster	KO	4 (10)	1980-09-09	Resorts International, Atlantic City
28	Loss	24–4	Eddie Mustafa Muhammad	TKO	11 (15)	1980-03-31	Stokely Athletic Center, Knoxville	Lost WBA Light heavyweight title
27	Win	24–3	Víctor Galíndez	KO	11 (15)	1979-11-30	Superdome, New Orleans	Won WBA Light heavyweight title
26	Win	23–3	Carlos Marks	UD	10 (10)	1979-09-20	Market Square Arena, Indianapolis
25	Loss	22–3	Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	8 (15)	1979-04-22	Market Square Arena, Indianapolis	Lost WBC Light heavyweight title
24	Win	22–2	Mate Parlov	TKO	10 (15)	1978-12-02	Palazzo Dello Sport, Marsala	Won WBC Light heavyweight title
23	Win	21–2	Jerry Celestine	UD	10 (10)	1978-09-15	Superdome, New Orleans
22	Loss	20–2	Lottie Mwale	PTS	8 (8)	1978-06-17	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade
21	Win	20–1	John Baldwin	UD	10 (10)	1978-05-24	Spectrum, Philadelphia
20	Win	19–1	Eddie Davis	TKO	7 (10)	1978-04-03	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
19	Win	18–1	Roberto Reynosa	KO	1 (10)	1978-01-25	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
18	Win	17–1	Billy Douglas	TKO	5 (10)	1977-11-01	Spectrum, Philadelphia
17	Win	16–1	Johnny Fields	KO	1 (10)	1977-09-28	Masonic Auditorium, Cleveland
16	Loss	15–1	Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	12 (12)	1977-07-26	Spectrum, Philadelphia	For NABF Light heavyweight title
15	Win	15–0	Tom Bethea	TKO	4 (10)	1977-04-22	Convention Exposition Center, Indianapolis
14	Win	14–0	Johnny Townsend	UD	10 (10)	1977-02-21	Spectrum, Philadelphia
13	Win	13–0	Vandell Woods	UD	10 (10)	1976-11-30	Spectrum, Philadelphia
12	Win	12–0	Wayne McGee	TKO	1 (10)	1976-09-14	Spectrum, Philadelphia
11	Win	11–0	Harold Carter	KO	2 (10)	1976-04-15	Indiana Roof Ballroom, Indianapolis
10	Win	10–0	Ray Anderson	TKO	6 (10)	1976-04-03	Fairgrounds Coliseum, Indianapolis
9	Win	9–0	Eddie Owens	KO	3 (10)	1975-11-13	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
8	Win	8–0	Paul Cardoza	TKO	5 (10)	1975-04-17	Convention Exposition Center, Indianapolis
7	Win	7–0	Gary Summerhays	UD	10 (10)	1975-01-29	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
6	Win	6–0	Jim Adams	TKO	1 (8)	1974-12-11	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
5	Win	5–0	Johnny Words	TKO	6 (8)	1974-11-12	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis
4	Win	4–0	Ted Paxton	KO	2 (10)	1974-07-17	High Chaparal, Chicago
3	Win	3–0	Chuck Warfield	TKO	5 (8)	1973-10-30	Coliseum, Fort Wayne
2	Win	2–0	Al Byrd	TKO	1 (8)	1973-09-17	Coliseum, Fort Wayne
1	Win	1–0	Sylvester Wilder	KO	2 (6)	1973-05-22	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis	Professional debut

Life after boxing

Johnson retired from the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Indianapolis, Indiana, after more than 30 years of service as a civilian employee, correctional officer and deputy sheriff.

See also

• List of world light-heavyweight boxing champions

External links

• Boxing record for Marvin Johnson from BoxRec (registration required)
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Marvin Johnson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.