Tom “Boom Boom” Johnson – Hall Of Fame Worthy?

by James Slater – Eight years ago today, Feb. 2nd, 2001, the career of former and long-reigning IBF featherweight champion Tom “Boom Boom” Johnson saw its final victory. Unanimously out-pointing the 8-28-3 David Turner, a 36-year-old Johnson was a faded version of the fine talent he was in the early-to-mid 1990s. A pro since October of 1986, the Evansville-born Johnson soldiered on for a further two bouts, losing them both by stoppage. In his heyday, however, “Boom Boom” was a slick and classy world champion..

Earning wins over good men like Troy Dorsey (WSD 8) and the dangerous Anthony English (WUD 10), a soon-to-be 26-year-old Johnson suffered a rare early-career loss when he was closely out-pointed by Harold Warren in New York (most of Tom’s early bouts took place in Michigan). Bouncing back after the split decision setback, the now 21-1 featherweight got himself a confidence booster of a win, before challenging for his first title.

Meeting future IBF 126-pound champ Dorsey in a return that contested the NABF featherweight strap, Johnson went home with a draw. This result, combined with the one Johnson saw added to his record in his first crack at a world title the following year, in 1991, made it seem doubtful he would ever reach the very top – much less stay there for an impressive four years and eleven successful defences. But this is just what “Boom Boom” did.

Losing on a TD after nine rounds in his IBF featherweight shot at tough Mexican Manuel Medina in November of ’91, Johnson refused to become discouraged. After four wins Johnson, by now 30-2-1, took on Medina for a second time, and on this occasion, in early ’93, he took the Mexican’s IBF crown. Winning a hard-fought split decision, the 29-year-old had made it.

After a non-title win over ten rounds, the new champion got busy defending his gold. Sugar Baby Rojas and Stephane Haccoun (in the Frenchman’s home country) were beaten in 1993, Orlando Soto, Benny Amparo and Francisco Segura were seen off the following year, old foe Manuel Medina, Eddie Croft and Jose Badillo went home losers in ’95, and finally, Ever Beleno, Claudio Victor Martinet (again in France) and Ramon Guzman were beaten in 1996.

The Guzman defence proved to be Johnson’s last successful one; for in his first fight of 1997 he lost to a new star in the form of the mouthy and big-punching Naseem Hamed. But during his four year reign Johnson had done a lot of good and notable work.

Hamed, after being sent down by Johnson early in the fight (nothing was called by referee Rudy Battle), became the first man to stop “Boom Boom,” stopping the 32-year-old in the 8th round. Though he carried on as a past-his-best veteran for a further five years, Johnson’s world class career had, in effect, come to and end in Millwall, London on the 8th of Feb. 1997.

Finally retiring in 2002, after back-to-back TKO losses to names Jesus Chavez and Jorge Paez, a 37-year-old Johnson finished with a still respectable 51-10-2(28) record. The question is, does the former long-ruling champ deserve to be in boxing’s Hall of Fame?

Considering the fine fighters he beat while world champion, considering the fact that he was only stopped three times in his long career (all three TKO’s coming at a time when Johnson was past his absolute best), and considering how he avoided no-one, ever; Johnson deserves his place. This writer thinks so, anyway.

Under-appreciated and even, to a degree at least, forgotten by many, the slick boxer with the inappropriate nickname certainly deserves to be enshrined if guys like Barry McGuigan and Brian Mitchell have been.