Dominating the cruiserweight boxing ranks during his career, Johnny Nelson was a British southpaw known for being able to go the distance in bouts thanks to his calculated punches. Those same calculated punches also resulted in 29 of his 45 victories ending in a knockout.

Early Career

Johnny Nelson began his career on March 18, 1986, losing after six rounds to Peter Brown, who was just two matches into his own career. Two more losses followed in 1986 before he scored his first win against Chris Little that November. His first career knockout came during a four-match streak, defeating Sean Daly in the first round in October 1987.

By the time he won his first title, Nelson was 12-5 and six matches into his second winning streak. In the previous five bouts, he defeated his opponents in a combination of knockouts and points. The October 1988 title bout for the British Central Area Cruiserweight title ended in two rounds with a knockout.

Nelson wouldn’t defend the belt as two matches later he would get a shot at the British Cruiserweight title against Andy Straughn in May 1989. He would take the title by knockout in eight rounds of action.

Beyond the 1980s

The title put him on the stage as a major competitor for world championship gold. His first shot was for the WBC Cruiserweight title against Carlos de Leon in January 1990. The two fought the full twelve rounds before the champion retained his belt in a close split decision.

Johnny Nelson would bounce back from this loss the following month and went on to defend British Cruiserweight title that March. Hot from a four-match winning streak, Nelson got a shot at the vacant EBU European Cruiserweight title at the end of 1990 facing Markus Bott in Germany. The match rolled into the final round where “The Entertainer” pulled out a knockout win.

In the second half of his Johnny “The Entertainer” Nelson’s career, we’ll go into his attempts in the heavyweight ranks as well as his first reign as World Cruiserweight champion.

REFERENCE
–http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/623
-Knockout Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbOUVdX-te8