Floyd Johnson (23 July 1900 – 1 June 1986), nicknamed "The Auburn Bulldog", was an American heavyweight boxer who was known for his stiff punch.
[5][6][7] Born July 23, 1900, in Des Moines, Iowa, Johnson was partly of Scandinavian stock, a handsome, light complected, blonde, blue-eyed young man.
In what may have been his first amateur victory he knocked out Jack Morris in one round, and was awarded a diamond studded belt buckle which he wore for decades.
[5] In their first meeting on January 26, 1922, Johnson lost to Jack McCauliffe II, in a six-round points decision at the Auditorium in Tacoma, Washington.
Brennan, who was a ring weary twenty-nine at the time of the bout, to Johnson's twenty-three was in serious distress in the twelfth and fifteenth rounds.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Fulton had a nearly "insurmountable advantage" in weight in the bout, and Johnson had to be the aggressor throughout to win the newspaper decision.
A few boxing critics felt that Johnson's poor showing against Fulton should have prevented his manager subsequently matching him with the much larger, heavier, and stronger Jess Willard.
[15] Some boxing critics blamed Johnson's manager Charley Cook for matching him with larger, stronger opponents too early in his career.
[6][17] The bout was an impressive comeback for Willard who had not fought since his loss of the Heavyweight title to Jack Dempsey on July 4, 1919, in a brutal third-round technical knockout in Toledo, Ohio.
[19] One boxing writer felt that Johnson should not have been matched with a boxer as strong as Willard and so much heavier, as the loss ruined his chances of coming through the ranks as a contender and the beating he took was formidable.
[20] He defeated Willie Meehan in a fourth round points decision on September 26, 1923, before a capacity crowd of 8,000 at the Auditorium in Oakland, California.
[6] The defeat took away Johnson's few remaining hopes of challenging Jack Dempsey for the World Heavyweight Title, as most considered Renault a good boxer, but a second rate contender.
[6] On May 9, 1924, he knocked out Chilean boxer Quinton Romero-Rojas before a crowd of 8,627 in the seventh round at New York's Madison Square Garden.
[24] On June 23, 1924, he lost to heavyweight boxer Jack Sharkey in a ten-round points decision at the Mechanics Building in Boston.
Burke had boxed many of the better middle and heavyweights of the era including Gene Tunney, Jack Dempsey, Harry Greb and Tommy Loughran.
[5][6] He pulled out a win against the great Black boxer Kid Norfolk, originally William Ward, on June 17, 1925, in a fourth round disqualification at the Auditorium in Oakland, California.
[28][6] On October 26, 1925, he fell to a first-round technical knockout against accomplished Black heavyweight boxer Harry Wills in Newark, New Jersey.