Anybody using Battling Jim Johnson?

Cap · 06-26-2020, 12:45 PM

If you've seen the Youtube video of Sam McVea fighting Battling Jim Johnson you may be confused to hear that Johnson often weighed well over 220 pounds. Based on that video you would conclude that Johnson was slightly shorter than McVea (who was 5' 10" or so). Photos show he was wide across the shoulders, probably had at least a 76" reach.

Johnson was known in his day as someone with heavy hands and an amazing ability to absorb punishment. He also had a tendency to hit below the belt due to his fondness for working the body.

Robert Edgren, the respected sportswriter and cartoonist, was of the opinion that Johnson often didn't put out his best effort, especially when fighting other black boxers, in order to secure future pay days for himself. Unfortunately, this makes it more difficult to accurately gauge how good he really was. Chances are he just 'looked' better than he was, possibly another 'gym fighter' who just lacked motivation in a real fight. It might even be that the fights in Boxrec listed under his name belonged to more than one man. There was even a white heavy fighting under the name "Battling Jim Johnson" at the time, who also claimed to be 'champion of the South Sea Islands'.

I'm currently using a version of Battling Jim Johnson in a European campaign. Wins some, loses some. Not to be confused with [Fredrick] Battling Johnson, the Scandinavian heavyweight.

Cap

06-26-2020, 12:45 PM	#1
Cap Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Large Province in God's Country Posts: 8,042	Anybody using Battling Jim Johnson? If you've seen the Youtube video of Sam McVea fighting Battling Jim Johnson you may be confused to hear that Johnson often weighed well over 220 pounds. Based on that video you would conclude that Johnson was slightly shorter than McVea (who was 5' 10" or so). Photos show he was wide across the shoulders, probably had at least a 76" reach. Johnson was known in his day as someone with heavy hands and an amazing ability to absorb punishment. He also had a tendency to hit below the belt due to his fondness for working the body. Robert Edgren, the respected sportswriter and cartoonist, was of the opinion that Johnson often didn't put out his best effort, especially when fighting other black boxers, in order to secure future pay days for himself. Unfortunately, this makes it more difficult to accurately gauge how good he really was. Chances are he just 'looked' better than he was, possibly another 'gym fighter' who just lacked motivation in a real fight. It might even be that the fights in Boxrec listed under his name belonged to more than one man. There was even a white heavy fighting under the name "Battling Jim Johnson" at the time, who also claimed to be 'champion of the South Sea Islands'. I'm currently using a version of Battling Jim Johnson in a European campaign. Wins some, loses some. Not to be confused with [Fredrick] Battling Johnson, the Scandinavian heavyweight. Cap Attached Images __________________ "...There were Giants in Those Days.."