Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson[1] MBE (born 4 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005.

[3] Nelson's 15th defence of his WBO cruiserweight title was scheduled to be against Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli on the undercard for the Joe Calzaghe versus Jeff Lacy WBO/IBF unification bout on 6 March 2006, but a knee injury picked up by Nelson during sparring forced the fight to be cancelled and Nelson announced his decision to retire from professional boxing a few months later on 22 September 2006.

Since retirement he has spent some time working with the prison service helping inmates with life management skills.

[5] Nelson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to boxing and to young people in South Yorkshire.

[7] Nelson's parents split up when he was a young child and he did not reunite with his biological father until he was in his thirties.