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.
• Won The 1972 National Golden Gloves Middleweight (165 lb.) Championship, March 20 at Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• 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 second round of a semifinal by eventual gold medalist Vyacheslav Lemechev of the Soviet Union.

Olympic Results

• 1st round bye
• Defeated Ewald Jarmer (West Germany) 5-0
• Defeated Alejandro Montoya (Cuba) 5-0
• Lost to Vyacheslav Lemeshev (Soviet Union) TKO by 2

Professional career

Johnson lost to Matthew Saad Muhammad and Lottie Mwale in the build-up but won a world title—the WBC light heavyweight version—from fellow southpaw Mate Parlov of Yugoslavia with a 10th-round KO in Italy in December 1978, then lost that same title the following April, in front of his hometown Indianapolis fans, in a rematch to Muhammad in what was perhaps 1979's Fight of the Year for many observers. Johnson was in control in the early going, but the Philadelphia fighter hung in there, and came back to wear down Johnson, stopping him in the eighth round, despite bleeding severely from the nose and from cuts around his eyes. Franklin also beat Johnson earlier—in 1977—by 12th-round KO for a minor title.

Johnson would again win a belt later that year—the WBA version—by fighting the rugged Victor Galindez from Argentina in New Orleans as part of a three-fight '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.

Again, it was down and out for Johnson in his first title defense when, on the Tate-Weaver undercard in Knoxville in March 1980, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (née Gregory) outworked, outhustled, and outclassed Johnson en route to an 11th-round TKO.

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 Prince 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 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

43 Wins (35 knockouts, 8 decisions), 6 Losses (5 knockouts, 1 decision)
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss		Leslie "Laventille Tiger" Stewart	RTD	8	23/05/1987	Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
Win		Jean Marie Emebe	TKO	13	20/09/1986	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Leslie "Laventille Tiger" Stewart	TKO	7	09/02/1986	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Frank Lux	KO	4	04/12/1985	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Raleigh Searcy	KO	4	11/10/1985	Terre Haute, Indiana, United States
Win		Eddie Davis	TKO	5	21/04/1985	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win		Charles "Hollywood" Henderson	TKO	2	17/01/1985	Merrillville, Indiana, United States
Win		Eddie Collins	KO	2	13/12/1984	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win		"Prince" Charles Williams	UD	10	08/11/1984	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Johnny Davis	UD	10	30/08/1984	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win		Jerome Clouden	TKO	5	14/06/1984	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win		Eddie Gonzales	KO	4	26/03/1984	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win		Elvis Parks	KO	4	18/01/1984	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Mike Brothers	TKO	10	21/11/1983	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win		Andros Ernie Barr	KO	8	25/02/1983	Nassau, Bahamas
Win		Alvino "Killer" Manson	KO	1	14/10/1982	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		"Young" Darnell Hayes	TKO	2	06/04/1982	Danville, Illinois, United States
Loss		Michael "Jinx" Spinks	KO	4	28/03/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win		Rick Nash	KO	3	28/01/1981	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Eddie Straight	KO	1	15/01/1981	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Dave Lee Royster	KO	4	09/09/1980	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss		Eddie Mustafa Muhammad	TKO	11	31/03/1980	Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Win		Victor Galindez	KO	11	30/11/1979	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Win		Carlos Marks	PTS	10	20/09/1979	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Loss		Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	8	22/04/1979	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Mate Parlov	TKO	10	02/12/1978	Marsala, Sicilia, Italy
Win		Jerry Celestine	PTS	10	15/09/1978	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Loss		Lottie Mwale	PTS	8	17/06/1978	Belgrade, Serbia
Win		Johnny "The Mad" Baldwin	UD	10	24/05/1978	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win		Eddie Davis	KO	7	03/04/1978	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Roberto Reynosa	KO	1	31/01/1978	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Billy "Dynamite" Douglas	TKO	5	01/11/1977	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win		Johnny Fields	KO	1	28/09/1977	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Loss		Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	12	26/07/1977	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win		Tom "The Bomb" Bethea	KO	4	22/04/1977	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Johnny Townsend	PTS	10	21/02/1977	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win		Vandell "Big Boy" Woods	PTS	10	30/11/1976	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win		Wayne McGee	TKO	1	14/09/1976	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win		Harold Carter	TKO	2	15/04/1976	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		"Sugar" Ray "The Magnificent" Anderson	TKO	6	03/04/1976	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Eddie "Red Top" Owens	KO	3	13/11/1975	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Paul Cardoza	KO	4	17/04/1975	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Gary Summerhays	PTS	10	29/01/1975	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		"Iron" Jim Adams	KO	1	11/12/1974	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Johnny Words	TKO	6	12/11/1974	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win		Ted Paxton	KO	2	17/07/1974	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win		Chuck Warfield	TKO	5	30/10/1973	Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Win		Al "Hoss" Byrd	KO	1	17/09/1973	Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Win		Sylvester Wilder	KO	2	22/05/1973	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Life After Boxing

Johnson currently serves as a pitchman for a local car dealership sometimes (humorously) threatening or abusing his fellow pitchmen with his boxing skills.

Preceded by Mate Parlov	WBC Light Heavyweight Champion 2 Dec 1978-22 Apr 1979	Succeeded by Matthew Franklin
Preceded by Victor Galindez	WBA Light Heavyweight Champion 30 Nov 1979-31 Mar 1980	Succeeded by Eddie Gregory
Preceded by Michael Spinks Vacated	WBA Light Heavyweight Champion 9 Feb 1986-23 May 1987	Succeeded by Leslie Stewart

[ Source: Wikipedia ]