He affectionately named his right fist "toonder and lightning" for its concussive power (it was also called "Ingo's bingo" and the "Hammer of Thor"), and in 2003 he was ranked at No.

[5] Johansson had earned his spot in the Olympics by winning the Swedish National Championship earlier the same year, 1952, after he knocked out his opponent in the first round of the final.

He won the Scandinavian pro title by knocking down and outscoring the Dane Erik Jensen (breaking his right hand in the process).

Johansson successfully defended his European crown against ranked heavyweights Henry Cooper (fifth-round KO on 19 May 1957) and Joe Erskine, with a TKO in round 13 on 21 February 1958.

[7] Johansson earned his shot at the world heavyweight crown when he knocked out top ranked contender Eddie Machen in the first round of their elimination match on 14 September 1958.

In front of 53,615 fans in Ullevi football stadium, Johansson downed Machen three times, finally finishing him with a barrage of punches at 2:16 of the first round.

[8][9] Johansson celebrated with his girlfriend and future wife Birgit Lundgren and the next day a headline in a New York newspaper expressed the city's amazement.

"[10] When Johansson returned to Sweden, he flew in on a helicopter, landing in the main football stadium in Gothenburg, his home town, and was cheered by 20,000 people.

One publication dubbed Johansson "boxing's Cary Grant" and in 1960 he appeared in the movie All the Young Men as a marine, alongside stars Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier.

He entered a training camp, keeping it low profile, but dropped the idea because he could not get into the condition he previously had, feeling he was too old for a title fight.

With blood trickling from his mouth, his glazed eyes staring up at the ring lights, and his left foot twitching, the Swede was counted out.

A. J. Liebling, writing in The New Yorker, said the outcome seemed preordained and that Johansson was not dieting for the fight, eating creamed chicken, strawberry shortcake, and cherry cheesecake.

The next day, the front page of Stockholm's newspapers showed a photo of him dizzy, climbing the ropes, with the headline "Wake up Ingo – You won!"

It is believed now that both suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), as it has been discovered in many contact and combat sports athletes, including boxing, although his career was fairly short compared with some champions.

In the 1990s Johansson's business interests in Sweden included sports apparel and a light lager beer called "Hammer", named for his punching prowess.

[17] In January 2011, the 1959 Johnny Lion song "Ingemar Johansson", which chronicles the 1959 Patterson fight, was re-released on the compilation album From The Vault: The Coed Records Lost Master Tapes, Volume 1.

Considered to be an ordinary fighter with a very good right hand, the Swede was perhaps fortunate to have met Patterson, one of history's more vulnerable heavyweight champions, for the title.

Furthermore, Patterson had defended the title just 56 days previously, against Britain's Brian London, and likely considered Johansson to be another inept challenger from Europe.

This would not happen again until September 1978, when Leon Spinks dropped the title back to Muhammad Ali, having beaten him in February of that year to become champion.

As this loss, and the one which he suffered to the American in their third fight, are his only defeats, Johansson is one of four heavyweight champions to have retired with victories over every opponent he faced as a professional.

Although the win over Patterson to claim the heavyweight title is his most famous, Johansson's first-round victory over the undefeated American, Eddie Machen, in 1958 is also noteworthy and provides evidence of the power the Swede held in his right hand.

Johansson also held the European Boxing Union Heavyweight title on two occasions, scoring stoppage victories over notable foes such as Henry Cooper, Dick Richardson and Joe Erskine.