Ingemar Johansson

Ingemar Johansson

Data
Birth Name	Ingemar Johansson
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	Sweden Swedish
birthday	September 22, 1932
place of birth	Gothenburg
Date of death	January 30, 2009
Place of death	Kungsbacka
style	Left delivery
size	1.84 m
Range	1.83 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	28
Victories	26th
Knockout victories	17th
Defeats	2
Profile in the BoxRec database

Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson (born September 22, 1932 in Gothenburg , † January 30, 2009 in Kungsbacka ) was a Swedish undisputed heavyweight boxing world champion . His nickname or battle name was " Thor's Hammer" , derived from origin and clout.

amateur

In 1952 Johansson took part for Sweden at the Olympic Games in Helsinki and advanced to the final. There he met the American Ed Sanders . He started the fight very defensively, hardly struck and was then disqualified by the referee in the second round because of his inactivity. Johansson himself later explained that his strategy would have been to box strictly defensively for the first two rounds and then surprise the opponent with aggressiveness in the third round. It was not until 1982, according to other sources in 1983, that he was awarded the silver medal .

Professional career

Johansson turned professional in December 1952. In 1956 he became European champion and defended the title twice. In 1958 he defeated Heinz Neuhaus and then won against the unbeaten Eddie Make by a first-round knockout, which gave him the chance to box for the world heavyweight title.

1959: Floyd Patterson on the ground after being hit by Ingemar Johanssons

In the fight on June 26, 1959, he knocked the defending champion Floyd Patterson in the third round to the ground seven times before the fight was canceled by the referee and Johannson was declared the first and so far only Swedish world champion. Patterson later referred to Johansson as the one of his opponents who had the greatest punch, even putting him above Sonny Liston in this regard . 1959 Johansson was for this fight by the magazine Sports Illustrated for Athlete of the Year chosen. He also received the Associated Press Athlete of the Year award .

In the direct rematch on June 20, 1960, however, he lost the title by knockout in the fifth round to Patterson, who became the first heavyweight world champion to regain the title and break the eternal rule "They never come back" first. Johansson also lost the third meeting on March 13, 1961 prematurely. Johansson boxed a couple of sparring rounds with Cassius Clay in 1961 before that world champion was against Sonny Liston .

"Ingo the Champ", statue of Peter Linde in front of the Ullevi stadium in Gothenburg

As a result, he played four more fights and finally ended his professional career in 1963. In 2002 he was inducted into the " International Boxing Hall of Fame ".

Dates and achievements

Professional data

Trainer:	Nils Blomberg , Whitey Bimstein , Al Silvani
Manager:	Edwin Ahlquist
Alias:	Ingo
Fighting style:	Left delivery
Size:	1.84 m
Range:	1.83 m
Knockout rate:	61%
Fights:	28
Victories:	26th
Knockout victories:	17th
Defeats:	2
Draw:	0
Number of laps:	173

Success as an amateur

Olympic Games : Second in heavyweight division in 1952

Match record: 71 fights, 61 wins (31 by knockout ), 10 defeats (1 by disqualification )

Success as a professional

Undisputed world heavyweight champion (1): June 26, 1959 - June 20, 1960 ( NYSAC & NBA )
Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion (1): June 26, 1959 - June 20, 1960
European heavyweight champion (2): September 30, 1956 - March 27, 1960 (2nd title defense), June 17, 1962 - April 22, 1963
Scandinavian heavyweight champion: March 12, 1953 - na

Match record: 28 fights, 26, victories (17th by knockout ), 2nd defeats

Awards

Ring Magazine World Boxer of the Year (2): 1958, 1959
BWAA World Boxer of the Year (1): 1959 (Sugar Ray Robinson Award)
Sports Illustrated World Sportsman of the Year (1): 1959 ( Sports Illustrated )
AP World Sportsman of the Year (1): 1959 ( Associated Press )
America's Professional Athlete of the Year (1): 1959 (Hickok Belt)

Recordings

Ring Magazine's All-Time Best Heavyweights List (39th, voted 1998)
Ring Magazine's 100 Best Puncher List of All Time (99th, voted 2003)
World Boxing Hall of Fame (elected in 1988)
International Boxing Hall of Fame (elected in 2002)

Publications

Decisive rounds. Copress-Verlag, 1999

Web links

Ingemar Johansson in the BoxRec database
Ingemar Johansson in BoxRec Encyclopaedia
Literature by and about Ingemar Johansson in the catalog of the German National Library
Biography on EastSideBoxing
Johansson's fights on CyberBoxingZone
Ring Magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers on BoxRec

Individual evidence

^ "The great Olympia Lexicon", Sport-Bild from June 19, 1996, p. 41

personal data
SURNAME	Johansson, Ingemar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Thor's Hammer (stage name); Ingo (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swedish boxing world champion
DATE OF BIRTH	September 22, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gothenburg
DATE OF DEATH	January 30, 2009
Place of death	Kungsbacka

[1] "The great Olympia Lexicon", Sport-Bild from June 19, 1996, p. 41