7 times on ESPN » Vampire made seven memorable appearances on ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing show. “He was one of the more delightful characters we had over the years,” Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler recently told The Ring. “Not a heavy puncher but a willing mixer, dead game, always with a smile and a hug for everyone. Just a delightful character. He and manager Pete Susens barnstormed the Midwest in those years, along with stablemates Harold Brazier, Dickie Ryan, Verdell Smith and Marty Jakubowski. All good dudes. Fun- loving, hard workers.” Johnson’s ESPN debut was an eight-round unanimous decision over “Schoolboy” Jimmy Baker as part of a New Year’s Eve card in 1981. “Dancing” Dan Snyder was next, beaten by Johnson in March 1982, also by eight-round decision. In July of that year, Johnson scored a dramatic TKO victory over Russell Kain in Atlantic City. Knocked down in the fifth round, Johnson rose to batter Kain in the sixth, smashing one of his eyes shut. Kain didn’t come out for the seventh. In September 1983, Johnson stepped before ESPN cameras again, this time to fight Carlos Tite in Hammond, Indiana, for something called “the Indianapolis state middleweight title.” Before 2,000 fans at the Hammond
1 memorable gimmick » As a youthful amateur in Ohio, Johnson recorded more than 100 wins. A showboater known for throwing bolo punches, he was highly regarded on the state level and a multi-time Golden Gloves winner. An arrest for some criminal activity interrupted his amateur run, but he was soon back in the ring. Even back then, he called himself “Vampire.” Several of his top- front teeth had been knocked out playing high school football, giving him an oddly vampiric smile. Greg Moore, an amateur who pulled out of a fight with him, later recalled Johnson’s intimidating presence, how he taunted him at the weigh-in, threatening to drink his blood. “The Vampire still gives me the shudders,” Moore told the Dayton Daily News. Johnson turned professional during the 1980s, when boxing fans endured a flotilla of fighters with nicknames like “Caveman,” “Bonecrusher,” “Bigfoot,” “Gator,” “The Animal,” “Wimpy” and “The Beast.” The sport was receiving more coverage than ever, and with so many slots to fill across the growing television landscape, fighters pulled out every conceivable gimmick to be noticed. Not wanting to be an ordinary middleweight, Johnson went full-blast with the vampire routine. He filled his water bottle with red food coloring so it appeared he was drinking blood between rounds. He told reporters that he kept his coffin in his bedroom. “I love the smell of blood,” Johnson said. “I drink it for breakfast every morning.” Except when hyping himself, Johnson was soft- spoken. Since he didn’t earn much money by boxing, he worked a full-time job in maintenance at the Indianapolis Market Square Arena. Journalists joked that he worked the graveyard shift. 2 bouts with a defeated Donny Lalonde by six-round decision. Seven months later, Lalonde avenged the loss, stopping Johnson future titleholder » In his eighth pro fight, Johnson in two. Lalonde went on to win the WBC light heavyweight title, which he later surrendered in a high-profile encounter with Sugar Ray Leonard.
Civic Center, Tite retained his title via unanimous decision in what the Indianapolis Times called “an action-packed 10-round war.” Johnson staggered Tite in the eighth, but he couldn’t finish the job. Tite later said he’d gone numb for a second. “He can hit,” Tite said of Johnson. By this time, Johnson’s record was 23-3-1. “I usually feel bad after a loss,” Johnson said, “but I don’t feel bad after this one. I thought I gave it to him pretty good.” Appearing in Atlantic City for another ESPN show, Johnson had an easy time with Lenny Villers, who was badly cut in the first round and couldn’t continue. In January 1984, Johnson returned to Atlantic City for perhaps his best ESPN bout, a hard-fought 10-round draw with contender Nino Gonzalez. Johnson’s final appearance on ESPN was a loss to Mike Landini in August 1984. There’d be no return of the vampire. “Vamp was always ready to help out,” Trampler recalled, “gladly posing for photos or lying ‘in state’ in a coffin in the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City, to the horror of hotel guests, who eventually prevailed upon Sands management to have the fighter take his act outside to the boardwalk.” Despite his penchant for showmanship, Johnson hated training. He was said to smoke a pack of cigarettes every day and drink Colt 45 all night. As far as ESPN was concerned, the loss to Landini was Johnson’s swan song.
2 rounds with The Beast » to Maracaibo, Venezuela, in 1984 to fight on NBC’s Sportsworld. The big network promised to show Johnson’s coffin entrance and scheduled a humorous pre-fight promo featuring Dr. Ferdie Pacheco in a cemetery. Unfortunately, the production was disastrous. First, Johnson’s coffin couldn’t make it past customs. NBC producer Peter Rolfe reportedly went out and rented one, but on the day of the fight, Johnson simply walked to the ring in his cape, sans coffin. Also, the fight took place on election day, and officials banned public events. The show went on with only a middling audience, mostly friends of promoter Rafael Cedeno and some journalists. Finally, Johnson’s opponent happened to be John “The Beast” Mugabi. Though the press got a lot of mileage out of “The Vampire vs. The Beast,” Johnson couldn’t capitalize Perhaps the biggest event in Johnson’s career was a trip on the publicity. With a beastly left hook, Mugabi knocked him out in the second.
41 total fights » Johnson (1956-2019) ended his career as a puffy cruiserweight with three consecutive losses. After his final bout in 1989, Johnson left boxing with a record of 30-8-2 (19 KOs) and one no- contest. He went off the radar, allegedly working as a bus driver in Ohio. In the end, Johnson’s gimmick overshadowed his work in the ring, though he probably enjoyed being remembered for the cape and coffin. But let’s never forget that Johnson was a boxer. Even if training was as vile to him as sunlight is to a vampire, Johnson competed – and won his share – against some solid opponents. “I love boxing,” he once said. “I’d do it even if I didn’t get paid for it.”
2 rounds to eat Club of Indianapolis, Johnson stopped irrepressible journeyman Bruce “The Mouse” Strauss at 2:25 of Round 2. The bout ended with Strauss staggering around in a highly suspicious daze. Even promoter Fred Berns thought Strauss was acting. “Nobody, I mean nobody, bought it,” Berns said, “except the referee.” 4 bouts with Frank Lux » “The Mouse.” » In 1983 at the Sherwood Lux was one of those busy journeymen who fought everywhere, often under fake names with a fake record. Johnson beat him in all four of their bouts, three of which took place consecutively, including one where Lux fought as “Frank Williams.”
BY THE NUMBERS: “VAMPIRE” JOHNSON by Don Stradley • Illustration by KronkAAArt When boxing commissioners allowed it, there was nothing quite like his ring entrance. It began with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” blasting from the house sound system. As incredulous fans watched, a coffin was rolled out. Once the coffin arrived ringside, it would open to reveal a fellow wearing a black cape. He’d leap out, opening his mouth wide to reveal long, sinister fangs. His name was Wilbert Johnson, but boxing fans knew him as “Vampire.” Here’s his story by the numbers.
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