Johnny Saxton (July 4, 1930 – October 4, 2008) was an American professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

in the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

(147 lb) division. He was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, learned to box in a Brooklyn orphanage and won 31 of his 33 amateur career fights. In his professional career, he was a two-time Undisputed World Welterweight Champion.

Professional career

Saxton turned professional in 1949 and ran up forty wins without a defeat before losing to Gil Turner in 1953. His win over

Joey Giardello Carmine Orlando Tilelli (July 16, 1930 – September 4, 2008) was an American boxer who was the world middleweight champion from 1963 to 1965. He adopted the name Joey Giardello (the name of a cousin's friend) in order to join the U.S. Army whi ...

and Johnny Bratton helped propel him to fight with

Kid Gavilán Gerardo González (January 6, 1926 – February 13, 2003), better known in the boxing world as Kid Gavilan, was a Cuban boxer. Gavilán was the former undisputed world welterweight champion from 1951 to 1954 having simultaneously held the NYS ...

(or Gavilan) in 1954 for the world welterweight championship. He beat Gavilan via a fifteen-round decision to take the title. He lost the title the following year via technical knockout against Tony DeMarco. In 1956 he won the title again with an upset win over

Carmen Basilio Carmen Basilio (born Carmine Basilio, April 2, 1927 – November 7, 2012) was an American professional boxer who was a two-time Undisputed Welterweight Champion and Undisputed Middleweight champion, beating Sugar Ray Robinson for the latter ...

, but lost the title in a rematch with Basilio later in the year. He retired in 1958. Saxton, brother of Richard Eugene Kyle, who boxed for the U.S. Army, was managed by Frank "Blinky" Palermo, a member of the

Philadelphia crime family The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Bruno–Scarfo crime family,< ...

. Palermo was imprisoned in 1961 for conspiracy and extortion for the covert ownership of prizefighters. Saxton's career was often marred by rumors of shady dealings. His two biggest wins, against Gavilan and Basilio, were both controversial and unpopular with many in the boxing world.

After boxing

Saxton worked as a security guard and a boxing coach after he retired. A hit-and-run accident left him with damage to one leg, and by the early 1990s he was living in a New York City apartment that had no electricity. A friend helped Saxton move to a retirement home in Florida. He was diagnosed with

pugilistic dementia Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* NYSAC

champion (147 lbs) (2×) * NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)

Undisputed titles

* Undisputed welterweight champion (2×)

References

External links

* * https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1954 * https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1955 * https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1956 * https://web.archive.org/web/20121009110002/http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=9703&cat=boxer * https://web.archive.org/web/20090303141303/http://www.boxinginsider.com/history/strange-days/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Saxton, Johnny 1930 births 2008 deaths Welterweight boxers World welterweight boxing champions World boxing champions American male boxers 20th-century American sportsmen