Johnny Wilson

 

 

 

 

 

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Sometimes it is better to be smarter outside of the ring than in it and Wilson is proof of this. A product of New York's little Italy he was a strong and competent left hander. He began fighting as an 18-year old. Much has been made of Wilson's"connections" which included Al Capone but he also had ability. Many of his early fights went unrecorded but he still managed to get a shot at world champion Mike O'Dowd and made the most of it by taking a lop-sided 12 round decision from him. It was O'Dowd's wade straight in style which suited Wilson best, and his left handed stance gave O'Dowd problems all night. He repeated his win over O'Dowd again over 15 rounds this time as his first defense. In his next title defense he retained the crown when he was awarded a victory even though it was said he obviously fouled Bryan Downey when he was in big trouble. How bad was it? The commission reversed the result and declared Downey the champion. In the rematch Wilson dominated Downey (with many people claiming the fix was in) and regained his title. In 1923 however he ran into Harry Greb who handed Wilson a beating over 15 one sided rounds. He would fight on until 1926 and later retired after loosing to Maxie Rosenbloom. He would go on to operate many successful clubs in New York City( including the Silver Slipper)....with help from his friend Al Capone.

 

 

 

(click here for his fights against Greb)

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE FIGHT RECORD






	
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