Marvin Johnson Record & Stats
In a career spanning 14 years, Marvin Johnson fought 49 times with 43 wins and 6 losses. By his last professional fight on May 23, 1987, Johnson's boxing record stood at 43-6 (35 KO wins, 5 KO losses).
- Born
- Apr 12, 1954
- Age
- 68
- Debut
- May 22, 1973
- Record
- 43-6
- Rounds
- 283
- KOs
- 35 (71.4%)
- Height
- 179 cm
- Reach
- 184 cm
- Ape Index
- 5 cm
- Stance
- Southpaw
- Last Fight
| WBA | WBC |
|---|---|
| lHV w2 d1 | lHV w1 d0 |
Featured Opponents
Marvin Johnson (Pops) is a retired American professional boxer. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA on April 12, 1954. Johnson made his professional boxing debut at the age of 19 on May 22, 1973. He is a former light-heavyweight world champion. He is 68 years old, and will be turning 69 in 14 days.
Boxing Record
| Total Fights | 49 |
|---|---|
| Wins | 43 |
| Losses | 6 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No-Contests | 0 |
| KO Wins | 35 |
|---|---|
| Total Title Wins | 3 |
| Title Defenses | 1 |
| Title-Fight KO Wins | 4 |
| Losses via KO | 5 |
| # | Date | Age | Opponent | Result | Via |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | May 23, 1987 | 33 | Leslie Stewart | Loss | RTD8 |
| 48 | Sep 20, 1986 | 32 | Jean Marie Emebe | Win | TKO13 |
| 47 | Feb 9, 1986 | 31 | Leslie Stewart | Win | TKO7 |
| 46 | Dec 4, 1985 | 31 | Frank Lux | Win | KO4 |
| 45 | Oct 11, 1985 | 31 | Raleigh Searcy | Win | TKO4 |
| 44 | Apr 21, 1985 | 31 | Eddie Davis | Win | TKO5 |
| 43 | Jan 17, 1985 | 30 | Charles Henderson | Win | TKO2 |
| 42 | Dec 13, 1984 | 30 | Eddie Collins | Win | KO2 |
| 41 | Nov 8, 1984 | 30 | Charles Williams | Win | UD |
| 40 | Aug 30, 1984 | 30 | Johnny Davis | Win | UD |
| 39 | Jun 14, 1984 | 30 | Jerome Clouden | Win | RTD5 |
| 38 | Mar 26, 1984 | 29 | Eddie Gonzales | Win | KO4 |
| 37 | Jan 18, 1984 | 29 | Elvis Parks | Win | TKO4 |
| 36 | Nov 21, 1983 | 29 | Mike Brothers | Win | TKO10 |
| 35 | Feb 25, 1983 | 28 | Andros Ernie Barr | Win | TKO8 |
| 34 | Oct 14, 1982 | 28 | Alvino Manson | Win | KO1 |
| 33 | Apr 6, 1982 | 27 | Darnell Hayes | Win | TKO2 |
| 32 | Mar 28, 1981 | 26 | Michael Spinks | Loss | KO4 |
| 31 | Jan 28, 1981 | 26 | Rick Nash | Win | TKO3 |
| 30 | Jan 15, 1981 | 26 | Eddie Straight | Win | TKO1 |
| 29 | Sep 9, 1980 | 26 | Dave Lee Royster | Win | KO4 |
| 28 | Mar 31, 1980 | 25 | Eddie Mustafa Muhammad | Loss | TKO11 |
| 27 | Nov 30, 1979 | 25 | VĂctor GalĂndez | Win | KO11 |
| 26 | Sep 20, 1979 | 25 | Carlos Marks | Win | UD |
| 25 | Apr 22, 1979 | 25 | Matthew Saad Muhammad | Loss | TKO8 |
| 24 | Dec 2, 1978 | 24 | Mate Parlov | Win | TKO10 |
| 23 | Sep 15, 1978 | 24 | Jerry Celestine | Win | UD |
| 22 | Jun 17, 1978 | 24 | Lottie Mwale | Loss | PTS |
| 21 | May 24, 1978 | 24 | John Baldwin | Win | UD |
| 20 | Apr 3, 1978 | 23 | Eddie Davis | Win | TKO7 |
| 19 | Jan 25, 1978 | 23 | Roberto Reynosa | Win | KO1 |
| 18 | Nov 1, 1977 | 23 | Billy Douglas | Win | TKO5 |
| 17 | Sep 28, 1977 | 23 | Johnny Fields | Win | KO1 |
| 16 | Jul 26, 1977 | 23 | Matthew Saad Muhammad | Loss | TKO12 |
| 15 | Apr 22, 1977 | 23 | Tom Bethea | Win | TKO4 |
| 14 | Feb 21, 1977 | 22 | Johnny Townsend | Win | UD |
| 13 | Nov 30, 1976 | 22 | Vandell Woods | Win | UD |
| 12 | Sep 14, 1976 | 22 | Wayne McGee | Win | TKO1 |
| 11 | Apr 15, 1976 | 22 | Harold Carter | Win | KO2 |
| 10 | Apr 3, 1976 | 21 | Ray Anderson | Win | TKO6 |
| 9 | Nov 13, 1975 | 21 | Eddie Owens | Win | KO3 |
| 8 | Apr 17, 1975 | 21 | Paul Cardoza | Win | TKO5 |
| 7 | Jan 29, 1975 | 20 | Gary Summerhays | Win | UD |
| 6 | Dec 11, 1974 | 20 | Jim Adams | Win | TKO1 |
| 5 | Nov 12, 1974 | 20 | Johnny Words | Win | TKO6 |
| 4 | Jul 17, 1974 | 20 | Ted Paxton | Win | KO2 |
| 3 | Oct 30, 1973 | 19 | Chuck Warfield | Win | TKO5 |
| 2 | Sep 17, 1973 | 19 | Al Byrd | Win | TKO1 |
| 1 | May 22, 1973 | 19 | Sylvester Wilder | Win | KO2 |
Titles
Marvin Johnson was a light-heavyweight world champion. He has held three world titles at the light-heavyweight weight division, one of which was a vacant title win, and the rest two were lineal championship wins.
| Weight Division | World Titles Held |
|---|---|
| Light-heavyweight | WBA 2x, WBC |
Statistics
Career Summary
Marvin Johnson's professional boxing career spanned more than 14 years — from 1973 to 1987.
Johnson made his professional boxing debut against Sylvester Wilder at the age of 19 on May 22, 1973, defeating Wilder via 2nd round KO. He went on to win 14 more consecutive fights after the debut, which included 11 wins via stoppage.
Johnson had his first world title fight at the age of 24 on December 2, 1978 after 23 professional fights, against Mate Parlov for the light-heavyweight WBC title. He defeated Parlov via 10th round TKO to become the light-heavyweight champion of the world.
Johnson has won three world titles at light-heavyweight. For all the details about Johnson's world title wins and defenses refer to "Marvin Johnson World Titles".
Some of Johnson's best fights and notable victories include wins over Hall-of-Famer VĂctor GalĂndez, Leslie Stewart, Mate Parlov, Eddie Davis, Jean Marie Emebe, Ray Anderson, and Charles Williams.
Marvin Johnson had a total of six losses in his professional boxing career — three of them in title bouts and three in non-title bouts. He suffered his first loss against Matthew Saad Muhammad via 12th round TKO on July 26, 1977, which ended his 15-fight win streak. He has been stopped five times and lost once via decision. For more details about these defeats, refer to "All of Marvin Johnson's losses".
His last professional fight was a light-heavyweight title defense bout against Trinidadian boxer Leslie Stewart on May 23, 1987. Johnson lost the fight via 8th round RTD — and lost his WBA title. It's been 35 years, 10 months, and 6 days since this fight.
Johnson retired from professional boxing with a record of 43-6, which included 35 knockout wins and five losses via knockout, and three title wins.
Career Highlights
Marvin Johnson fought a total of 49 times during his professional career. These two fights are the highlight of his career.
December 2, 1978: Johnson wins his first world title by defeating Mate Parlov via 10th round TKO. He is now the WBC light-heavyweight world champion.
February 9, 1986: Johnson wins the WBA light-heavyweight title from Leslie Stewart, by beating Stewart via 7th round TKO.
Marvin Johnson Fights
In their 2nd fight, a 33-year old Marvin Johnson (43-5, 35 KO) faced Leslie Stewart again, who was now 26 years old with a record of 23-1 in a light-heavyweight title defense fight. Stewart was on a five-fight win streak with 15 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 8 cms and also had a 4 cm reach advantage over Johnson.
Johnson lost to Stewart via 8th round RTD and lost the WBA light-heavyweight title.
A 31-year old Marvin Johnson (41-5, 33 KO) faced an undefeated Trinidadian boxer Leslie Stewart for the first time, who was 24 years old with a record of 18-0 for the vacant WBA (vacant) light-heavyweight title. Stewart was on a 18-fight win streak with 12 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 8 cms and also had a 4 cm reach advantage over Johnson.
Johnson defeated Stewart via 7th round TKO to win the vacant WBA light-heavyweight title. He handed Stewart the first loss of his career, and put an end to Stewart's 18-fight win streak.
In their 2nd fight, a 31-year old Marvin Johnson (38-5, 30 KO) fought Eddie Davis again, who was now 33 years old with a record of 29-4-1. Davis was on a two-fight win streak with 19 KO wins. Johnson was the taller of the two by 1 cm and also had a 6 cm reach advantage.
Johnson defeated Davis via 5th round TKO.
A 26-year old Marvin Johnson (27-4, 21 KO) fought an undefeated fellow American boxer Michael Spinks, who was 24 years old with a record of 15-0. Spinks was on a 15-fight win streak with 10 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 6 cms and also had a 9 cm reach advantage over Johnson.
Johnson lost to Spinks via 4th round KO.
In their 2nd fight, a 25-year old Marvin Johnson (22-2, 17 KO) faced Matthew Saad Muhammad again, who was now 24 years old with a record of 22-3-2 in a light-heavyweight title defense fight. Muhammad was on a nine-fight win streak with 15 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 1 cm and also had a 7 cm reach advantage over Johnson.
Johnson lost to Muhammad via 8th round TKO and lost the WBC light-heavyweight title.
A 23-year old Marvin Johnson (18-1, 15 KO) fought an undefeated fellow American boxer Eddie Davis for the first time, who was 26 years old with a record of 10-0-1. Davis was on a four-fight win streak with 5 KO wins. Johnson was the taller of the two by 1 cm and also had a 6 cm reach advantage.
Johnson defeated Davis via 7th round TKO. He handed Davis the first loss of his career, and put an end to Davis' 4-fight win streak.
A 23-year old Marvin Johnson (15-0, 12 KO) fought fellow American boxer Matthew Saad Muhammad for the first time, who was 22 years old with a record of 15-3-2. Muhammad was on a two-fight win streak with 9 KO wins, and was the taller of the two by 1 cm and also had a 7 cm reach advantage over Johnson.
Johnson lost to Muhammad via 12th round TKO. He suffers the first loss of his career, and his 15-fight win streak comes to an end.
FAQs
How many KOs does Marvin Johnson have on his record?
Johnson knocked out 35 of his 49 opponents. By his last fight, his KO ratio was at 71.4%. Of his total 43 wins, 35 of them were via KO (81.4%).
Who did Marvin Johnson lose to?
Johnson had six losses. Leslie Stewart, Michael Spinks, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Lottie Mwale, and Matthew Saad Muhammad are the five boxers who have beaten Johnson.