Johnny Nelson (45-12-2, 29) was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England on January 4, 1967. At the age of 19 years on March 18, 1986, he made his professional boxing debut against Peter Brown, losing the fight via 6-round points decision.
On his 21st career fight at 23 years old, Johnny Nelson got a shot at the WBC cruiserweight titles against Carlos De Leon on January 27, 1990 but lost the fight via 12-round split decision.
He became a cruiserweight world champion (WBO) on March 27, 1999 at the age of 32 years old, on his 45th career fight, after defeating Carl Thompson via 5th-round TKO.
Nelson's last fight was a cruiserweight (WBO) world-title defense against Vincenzo Cantatore on November 26, 2005. He won the fight via 12th-round split decision and successfully defended the title. He retired with a 3-fight winning streak.
Some of Johnny Nelson's best fights have been against Carlos De Leon, Carl Thompson, Guillermo Jones, Ezra Sellers, Tom Collins, Dirk Wallyn and Ian Bulloch.
Nelson has 12 losses on his boxing record.
| # | Date | Opponent | Weight | Round | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
59 | Nov 26, 2005 38 years, 10 months 45-12-2 (29) | Vincenzo Cantatore | CR | 12 | SD | WIN Defended WBO |
58 | Sep 4, 2004 37 years, 8 months 44-12-2 (29) | Rüdiger May | CR | 7 | TKO | WIN Defended WBO |
57 | Nov 15, 2003 36 years, 10 months 43-12-2 (28) | Alexander Petkovic | CR | 12 | MD | WIN Defended WBO |
56  | Nov 23, 2002 35 years, 10 months 42-12-2 (28) | 30 years, 6 months 29-2-1 (22) | CR | 12 | SD | DRAW Defended WBO |
55 | Apr 6, 2002 35 years, 3 months 42-12-1 (28) | Ezra Sellers | CR | 8 | KO | WIN Defended WBO |
54 | Nov 24, 2001 34 years, 10 months 41-12-1 (27) | Alexander Vasilev | HW | 12 | UD | WIN |
53 | Jul 21, 2001 34 years, 6 months 40-12-1 (27) | Marcelo Domínguez | CR | 12 | UD | WIN Defended WBO |
52 | Jan 27, 2001 34 years 39-12-1 (27) | George Arias | CR | 12 | UD | WIN Defended WBO |
51 | Oct 7, 2000 33 years, 9 months 38-12-1 (27) | Adam Watt | CR | 5 | TKO | WIN Defended WBO |
50 | Apr 8, 2000 33 years, 3 months 37-12-1 (26) | Pietro Aurino | CR | 7 | TKO | WIN Defended WBO |
49 | Nov 6, 1999 32 years, 10 months 36-12-1 (25) | Christophe Girard | CR | 4 | KO | WIN Defended WBO |
48 | Sep 18, 1999 32 years, 8 months 35-12-1 (24) | Sione Asipeli | CR | 12 | UD | WIN Defended WBO |
47 | Aug 7, 1999 32 years, 7 months 34-12-1 (24) | Willard Lewis | CR | 4 | RTD | WIN Defended WBO |
46 | May 15, 1999 32 years, 4 months 33-12-1 (23) | Bruce Scott | CR | 12 | UD | WIN Defended WBO |
45  | Mar 27, 1999 32 years, 2 months 32-12-1 (23) | 34 years, 10 months 24-4 (17) | CR | 5 | TKO | WIN Won WBO |
44 | Jul 18, 1998 31 years, 6 months 31-12-1 (22) | Peter Oboh | 6 | RTD | WIN | |
43 | Oct 11, 1997 30 years, 9 months 30-12-1 (21) | Dirk Wallyn | CR | 1 | TKO | WIN |
42 | Jul 19, 1997 30 years, 6 months 29-12-1 (20) | Michael Murray | 4 | PTS | WIN | |
41 | Feb 22, 1997 30 years, 1 months 28-12-1 (20) | Patrice Aouissi | CR | 7 | TKO | WIN |
40 | Dec 14, 1996 29 years, 11 months 27-12-1 (19) | Dennis Andries | CR | 7 | TKO | WIN |
39 | Jan 20, 1996 29 years 26-12-1 (18) | Tony Booth | 2 | KO | WIN | |
38 | Dec 3, 1995 28 years, 10 months 25-12-1 (17) | Adílson Rodrigues | HW | 12 | UD | LOSS |
37 | Aug 22, 1995 28 years, 7 months 25-11-1 (17) | Adílson Rodrigues | HW | 12 | SD | LOSS |
36 | Nov 5, 1994 27 years, 10 months 25-10-1 (17) | Nikolay Kulpin | HW | 12 | UD | WIN |
35  | Apr 5, 1994 27 years, 3 months 24-10-1 (17) | 38 years, 5 months 22-0-1 (13) | 10 | PTS | LOSS | |
34 | Nov 19, 1993 26 years, 10 months 24-9-1 (17) | Jimmy Thunder | HW | 12 | UD | WIN |
33 | Oct 1, 1993 26 years, 8 months 23-9-1 (17) | Franco Wanyama | CR | 10 | DQ | LOSS |
32 | Aug 11, 1993 26 years, 7 months 23-8-1 (17) | Tom Collins | CR | 1 | TKO | WIN |
31 | Apr 30, 1993 26 years, 3 months 22-8-1 (16) | Dave Russell | CR | 11 | TKO | WIN |
30  | Oct 24, 1992 25 years, 9 months 21-8-1 (15) | 26 years, 9 months 16-0 (10) | 10 | UD | LOSS | |
29 | Aug 14, 1992 25 years, 7 months 21-7-1 (15) | Norbert Ekassi | 3 | TKO | LOSS | |
28 | May 16, 1992 25 years, 4 months 21-6-1 (15) | James Warring | CR | 12 | UD | LOSS For IBF |
27 | Mar 12, 1991 24 years, 2 months 21-5-1 (15) | Yves Monsieur | CR | 8 | RTD | WIN |
26 | Dec 14, 1990 23 years, 11 months 20-5-1 (14) | Markus Bott | CR | 12 | TKO | WIN |
25 | Sep 5, 1990 23 years, 8 months 19-5-1 (13) | Andre Smith | 8 | PTS | WIN | |
24 | Jun 27, 1990 23 years, 5 months 18-5-1 (13) | Arthur Weathers | 2 | TKO | WIN | |
23 | Mar 28, 1990 23 years, 2 months 17-5-1 (12) | Lou Gent | CR | 4 | KO | WIN |
22 | Feb 14, 1990 23 years, 1 months 16-5-1 (11) | Dino Homsey | 7 | TKO | WIN | |
21  | Jan 27, 1990 23 years 15-5-1 (10) | 30 years, 8 months 45-5 (30) | CR | 12 | SD | DRAW For WBC |
20 | Oct 2, 1989 22 years, 8 months 15-5 (10) | Ian Bulloch | CR | 2 | KO | WIN |
19 | May 21, 1989 22 years, 4 months 14-5 (9) | Andy Straughn | CR | 8 | KO | WIN |
18 | Apr 4, 1989 22 years, 3 months 13-5 (8) | Steve Mormino | 2 | TKO | WIN | |
17 | Oct 26, 1988 21 years, 9 months 12-5 (7) | Danny Lawford | CR | 2 | TKO | WIN |
16 | Aug 31, 1988 21 years, 7 months 11-5 (6) | Andrew Gerrard | 8 | PTS | WIN | |
15 | Jun 6, 1988 21 years, 5 months 10-5 (6) | Lennie Howard | 2 | KO | WIN | |
14 | May 4, 1988 21 years, 4 months 9-5 (5) | Crawford Ashley | 8 | PTS | WIN | |
13 | Apr 25, 1988 21 years, 3 months 8-5 (5) | Kenny Jones | 1 | KO | WIN | |
12 | Feb 24, 1988 21 years, 1 months 7-5 (4) | Cordwell Hylton | 1 | KO | WIN | |
11 | Feb 1, 1988 21 years 6-5 (3) | Dennis Bailey | 8 | PTS | LOSS | |
10 | Dec 14, 1987 20 years, 11 months 6-4 (3) | Jon McBean | 6 | TKO | WIN | |
9 | Jun 3, 1987 20 years, 4 months 5-4 (2) | Byron Pullen | 3 | TKO | WIN | |
8 | Apr 28, 1987 20 years, 3 months 4-4 (1) | Brian Schumacher | 8 | PTS | LOSS | |
7 | Mar 10, 1987 20 years, 2 months 4-3 (1) | Sean Daly | 1 | TKO | WIN | |
6 | Mar 2, 1987 20 years, 1 months 3-3 (0) | Doug Young | 6 | PTS | WIN | |
5 | Jan 19, 1987 20 years 2-3 (0) | George Carmen | 6 | PTS | WIN | |
4 | Nov 20, 1986 19 years, 10 months 1-3 (0) | Chris Little | 6 | PTS | WIN | |
3 | Oct 3, 1986 19 years, 8 months 0-3 (0) | Magne Havnaa | 4 | PTS | LOSS | |
2 | May 15, 1986 19 years, 4 months 0-2 (0) | Tommy Taylor | 6 | PTS | LOSS | |
1 | Mar 18, 1986 19 years, 2 months 0-1 (0) | Peter Brown | 6 | PTS | LOSS |
