George Johnson (boxer)

George Raft "Scrap Iron" Johnson (December 15, 1938 – April 9, 2016)^[2] was an American heavyweight boxer whose career spanned the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Johnson fought many of the top fighters of his era, including George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston, Ron Lyle, Duane Bobick, Joe Bugner, Jerry Quarry, and Eddie Machen.^[3]

George Johnson
Born	(1938-12-15)December 15, 1938 Oklahoma City
Died	April 9, 2016(2016-04-09) (aged 77)
Nationality	American
Other names	Scrap Iron
Statistics
Weight(s)	235 (1972)[1]
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	54
Wins	22
Wins by KO	11
Losses	27
Draws	5

Whilst a journeyman fighter he was nonetheless notorious for being extremely durable. He could take vast amounts of punishment. George Foreman said he had the best chin of all his opponents.^[4] He retired in 1975 with a record of 22–27–5. He was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.^[5][6][7][8]

Johnson was nicknamed "Scrap" by girls in his neighborhood in Oklahoma City when he was about seven years old, because he used a wheelbarrow to salvage machinery parts to earn money. By high school, his American football teammates tacked on the "iron."^[9][10]

In 1969, after putting together a string of wins, Johnson was defeated by Sonny Liston in Las Vegas after seven rounds. Johnson had been scheduled to get married at midnight after the fight, but pushed off the wedding to the next day to recover. Johnson later claimed "Liston hit me so hard, I married the wrong woman."^[11][12]

Professional boxing record

22 Wins (11 knockouts, 11 decisions), 27 Losses (12 knockouts, 15 decisions), 5 Draws[13]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	31–0	Duane Bobick	RTD	4	13 Nov 1975	Met Center, Bloomington, Minnesota
Draw	14–1	Scott LeDoux	PTS	10	14 Aug 1975	Saint Paul Civic Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota	SD for LeDoux overturned due to crowd response.
Loss	12–0	Leroy Jones	PTS	10	18 Mar 1975	Honolulu, Hawaii
Loss	49–7–4	Jerry Quarry	UD	10	25 Feb 1975	Hawaii International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii	[14]
Loss	10–0	Johnny Boudreaux	PTS	10	16 Sep 1974	Houston, Texas
Loss	29–2	Boone Kirkman	UD	10	23 Oct 1973	Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, Washington
Win	4–6–1	Joe Tiger Harris	TKO	3	2 Jul 1973	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	—	John Robinson	KO	2	16 May 1973	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	5–17–1	Terry Sorrell	KO	5	25 Apr 1973	Las Vegas, Nevada	Sorrell knocked out at 1:41 of the fifth round.
Win	1–3	Dave Sherman	TKO	2	11 Apr 1973	Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	12–0	Ron Lyle	KO	3	25 Mar 1972	Denver, Colorado	Johnson knocked out at 0:31 of the third round.
Loss	26–9–6	Juergen Blin	TKO	2	1 Oct 1971	Hamburg, Germany
Win	7–8	MacArthur Swindell	PTS	10	30 Jun 1971	Silver Slipper, Paradise, Nevada
Loss	28–2	Joe Bugner	PTS	10	3 Nov 1970	Royal Albert Hall, London, England	[15][16]
Loss	19–0	George Foreman	TKO	7	16 May 1970	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California	Referee stopped the bout at 1:41 of the seventh round.
Loss	34–4–4	Jerry Quarry	UD	10	19 Mar 1970	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Loss	47–3	Sonny Liston	TKO	7	19 May 1969	Las Vegas Convention Center, Winchester, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 2:55 of the seventh round.[11][17]
Win	13–5–1	Bob Felstein	PTS	10	18 Feb 1969	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	3–13–1	Alvin Tiger	TKO	6	2 Oct 1968	Silver Slipper, Paradise, Nevada
Win	5–6–1	Roy Wallace	UD	10	22 Aug 1968	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	8–5–1	Ray White	UD	10	28 Nov 1967	Community Concourse, San Diego, California	[18]
Win	9–4–1	Earl Averette	UD	10	26 Oct 1967	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	57–8–3	Santo Amonti	TKO	10	2 Aug 1967	Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California	Referee stopped the bout at 1:19 of the tenth round.
Loss	15–0	Joe Frazier	UD	10	4 May 1967	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	[19]
Win	25–3–4	Otha Brown	TKO	7	15 Dec 1966	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	Referee stopped the bout at 0:59 of the seventh round.
Loss	49–8–3	Eddie Machen	UD	10	29 Sep 1966	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	6–6	Emil Umek	UD	10	26 Jul 1966	Stockyards Coliseum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Loss	15–0–2	Jerry Quarry	TKO	2	7 Apr 1966	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	Referee stopped the bout at 2:40 of the second round.
Draw	11–8–1	Chuck Leslie	PTS	10	6 Jan 1966	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Draw	5–5–1	Manuel Ramos	PTS	10	4 Nov 1965	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	9–2–1	Jimmy Harryman	TKO	10	21 Oct 1965	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	Referee stopped the bout at 1:18 of the tenth round.
Loss	12–1–2	Elmer Rush	UD	10	27 Sep 1965	The Hacienda, Paradise, Nevada
Loss	7–2–1	Henry Clark	PTS	10	23 Sep 1965	Kezar Pavilion, San Francisco, California	1-6.
Loss	32–7–1	Amos Lincoln	KO	5	5 Aug 1965	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	Johnson knocked out at 2:27 of the fifth round.
Win	8–3–1	Roy Rogers	TKO	7	22 Jun 1965	Lubbock, Texas	Referee stopped the bout at 2:30 of the seventh round.
Loss	7–1–1	Roy "Cowboy" Rogers	UD	10	9 Nov 1964	Dallas Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Loss	19–2	Thad Spencer	KO	4	4 Aug 1964	Castaways Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	17–17–2	Sonny "Policeman" Moore	PTS	10	25 May 1964	Dallas Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Win	17–16–2	Sonny Moore	SD	10	14 Apr 1964	Lindsayland Auditorium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Draw	5–4–1	John L. Davey	PTS	10	7 Apr 1964	Stockyards Coliseum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Win	0–2	Roy Crear	SD	10	17 Mar 1964	Lindsayland Auditorium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Win	0–8	Leo Bennett	TKO	2	11 Feb 1964	Stockyards Coliseum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Draw	35–10–1	Buddy Turman	PTS	10	5 Nov 1962	Tyler, Texas
Loss	14–14–1	Ernie Cab	KO	6	25 Apr 1961	City Auditorium, Houston, Texas
Loss	11–0	Tod Herring	KO	6	7 Mar 1961	Houston, Texas
Loss	34–10–1	Donnie Fleeman	TKO	7	28 Nov 1960	Dallas Memorial Auditorium, Dallas, Texas
Win	0–3	Leo "Zorro" Bennett	KO	1	15 Sep 1960	Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Bennett knocked out at 2:45 of the first round.
Loss	13–4–1	Floyd Joyner	PTS	6	31 Aug 1960	Albuquerque Civic Auditorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Win	0–1	Benny Lee Bowser	PTS	6	2 Aug 1960	Port Arthur, Texas
Win	—	Donny Blue	PTS	6	13 Jun 1960	Wichita, Kansas
Loss	3–1	Wayne Heath	PTS	6	12 Apr 1960	Lindsayland Auditorium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Loss	1–0	Wayne Heath	PTS	4	24 Nov 1959	Lindsayland Auditorium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Win	2–7	Ted Hester	PTS	4	10 Nov 1959	Lindsayland Auditorium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Loss	11–16–2	Johnny "J.C." Carroll	TKO	2	9 Jun 1958	Tucson Sports Center, Tucson, Arizona