Ingemar Johansson was the world’s dominant.
And this is the proof of it.
An unparalleled clip of the legend completely toying with Muhammad Ali himself will give you goosebumps.
There was a time when the biggest and hottest athlete in the entire world was Swedish, and his name was Ingemar Johansson. In Sweden, Ingemar Johansson had already had his breakthrough in the early 50s, when he performed brilliantly during the Olympics.
Senseless breakthrough
Right after the championship, Johansson turned pro, and after that it didn’t take long before the entire boxing world knew who he was. Four years after the Olympics, he took the EC title, and he defended it in both 1957 and 1958. In September 1958 came the first, really big test. American Eddie Machen was one of the world’s highest ranked boxers, and over 53,000 people made their way to Ullevi to watch the match. Ingo was the first to defeat the Mech, and he only needed 2 minutes and 16 seconds.
In 1959, Ingo fought for the world championship belt in New York against Floyd Patterson, and this time the Swede didn’t need more than two minutes to finish the match either. Johansson crushed Patterson, and Sweden had its first, and so far only, heavyweight boxing world champion. And the uproar was enormous. In Sweden, several million followed the broadcast via radio in the middle of the night. Johansson was awarded Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, and Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press.
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Total playhouse with the legendary
And that’s how an unexpected friendship with Muhammad Ali began. Ali, or cassis Clay as he was then called, would later become one of the sports world’s most iconic figures ever. In 1961, Ingo prepared for the next big match. He needed a sparring partner, and a young Muhammad Ali did not hesitate to step into the ring, despite the fact that the opponent was the greatest king of the entire boxing world.
Now a TikTok account has published a video from the training session with Johansson and Muhammad Ali, and it’s hard not to get goosebumps. Ali was already a great talent who helped win Olympic gold, but it was still no match for Ingo. The Swede had a total playhouse with the American – and really just sit back and enjoy these wonderful pictures:
After the fight, Ingemar Johansson is said to have directed some criticism at Ali. The training only lasted two rounds.
– The reason why Ingemar broke after two rounds was that Ali was completely useless to spar with. He just jumped around and it wasn’t appropriate for Ingemar’s training. Ali took it as a show opportunity. So Ingemar said to Angelo: “Take him away. That’s no training for me,” Johansson’s widow Edna Alsterlund has said.
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