Evening star., 1959-06-27
Return Bout in September
Due as Swede Wins Title
7 Knockdowns
In Third Round
Dethrone Champ

one poStponement only TO be
hurt again at the gate when it
rained heavily between 8 and
8 o'clock last night.
Patterson was a 5-to-l ia
vorite. with very light betting,
but neither the odds in his ia
vor nor anything else could
help him once he was hit good
and solid by that right hand
of the l96-pound Swcde.
There was little warning that
1t was going to happen. Jo-
hanson. who had a l4-pound
weight advantage. threw a right
only once in the slow first
round. a half miss that did lit
tie except bring cheers from
the crowd that had been won
dering. after reading all the
newspaper stories, whether he
had right hand at all.
The right also stirred the
crowd a bit in the second when
there were a few one-two fur
ries that did nothing.
But in the third: WHAMMY!
Right From Nowhere
A right from out of practi-
cally nowhere caught Patterson
right between the eyes and he
was on his seat and then rolled
over onto his face, all in al
most one surprised motion.
lingo, in pre-fight interviews,
had said no man could stand
up against that right once it
was landed correctly. and cer-
tainly Patterson couldn't.
Rademacher and Harris, two
nothing" fighters, had had
Patterson on the canvas in
recent fights, but they didn't
slam him back on his launches
with any of the authority that
Johansson did. Patterson was
driven back onto the seat Of
his pants. and had he stayed
there without stirring he
wouldn't have had to apologize
to anyone.
The punch that put him
down had heavyweight cham
pion of the world" written all
over it.
But Floyd rolled over on his
face. pushed himself up-for
a second it looked like a man
doing pushup exercises on a
gym mat-and regained his
feet between the count of nine
and ten.
Fought Only on Instinct
1t was obvious that he didn't
know what he was doing. and
he admitted afterward that he
didn't. Had it been anything
except a championship fight,
Referee -Goldstein probably
would have stopped it right
then and there.
/ Patterson staggered in a
half-circle toward Johansson S
corner, with his back partly
turned to the charging Swede.
Floyd was unable to defend
himself. and went down again
from another Johansson right
that landed partly on the back
Of the neck. =
This was another nine count,
and Patterson was up and down
again five more times before
GoldStein stopped the fight.
Oddly enough, Patterson was
able to recover a bit from the
punishment he was taking. and
between several of the later
knockdowns he was able to
fight back a little bit. Once
he tried to chnch, but he didn't
even have the strength 10 wrap
his arms around Johansson.
Sharp and MethOdical
| Johansson cut him down
every time. not with the cold
fighting fury of a Dempsey.
but with methodical, sharp
punching.
Patterson. only 81 when he
won the title in 1856, as the
youngest heavyweight cham
pion ever. hadn't yet begun to
fight last night as he lost the
championship.
His previous title opponents
with the possible exception
Of Moore. a light-heavyweight
were handpicked more-or-
less soft touches.
1t was four days short of
two years and seven months
since Patterson beat Moore in
the two-man elimination TOUR
nament to succeed the retired,
lundefeated Marciano.
Unless he beats Johansson in
the return bout and goes on
to greater things, Floyd will
not go down in boxing history
as one of the better champions.
Sure TO Be Interesting
Johansson may make a dis
tinguished champion. certainly
he'll be an interesting one. That
right of his is something that
will be a terrific attraction.
His training methods are un-
uSual-none of the Spartan
simplicity of most fighters and
he hadn't worked a lick for
nearly a week.
Since last Saturday he's been
sitting around and. as he put
it soaking up strength" He
soaked up plenty, apparently
enough to put him on a very
distinguished list already.
This was Ingemar'S 22c pro-
fessional victory without a de-
feat, or even a draw. John L.
Sullivan, Jim Jeffrles and Mar
ciano also made it to the
heavyweight championship
without a defeat. That's a
pretty exclusive group.
ADVERTISEMENT.