Fleischer and Ingemar Johansson display the Ring heavyweight title in 1960.
Even if you’re champion for a day, the prestige of the heavyweight championship lasts a lifetime. And that pretty much sums up the life of former heavyweight champion Ingemar Johannson.
Jens Ingemar Johansson was born on September 22, 1932 in Gottenburg, Sweden, and had a successful amateur career that ended disappointingly. In the gold medal match at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, the 19-year-old Johansson was disqualified and had his silver medal withheld for failing to face his opponent, eventual gold medalist Ed Sanders.
His disqualification loss due to “excessive passivity” and subsequent embarrassment prompted Johansson to consider retirement immediately afterwards, but he ended up turning professional in December of that year, amassing 14 wins, mostly in his home country, before traveling to Italy to take the title. Franco Cavicchi European Championship in a stoppage victory in 15 rounds.
He retained that belt against England’s Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine, and after defeating Eddie Machen he received the opportunity to face heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson for the title.
Against all odds, Johansson knocked out Patterson at New York’s Yankee Stadium in three rounds on June 26, 1959, becoming the fifth heavyweight champion born outside the United States in a monumental upset victory.
The fight had an immediate rematch a year later, in which Patterson regained his belt via five-round knockout in what became the first time a heavyweight champion had regained his belt. A rubber match was set up for March 1961, also won by Patterson in six innings.
After just three more fights, Johansson retired after defeating Brian London in Sweden, going 26-2 with 17 knockouts.
He passed away in January 2009 at the age of 76, with his second wife Birgit by his side. Her silver medal was presented to her in 1982 after being held for 30 years during her reinstatement appeal. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002.
Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and other outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an electing member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest and is the moderator of The Ring’s women’s ratings panel. He served as editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com. Follow him on Twitter @MorillaBoxing
