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‘Geez, Timmy, I Didn’t Mean For
You to Kill Him’

Tim Johnson wasn’t a tremendous puncher, but I remember an incident while he was an amateur where he hurt another boxer and it was my fault. Our original boxing team was named Club Knockout by a local newspaper reporter. The guys liked the moniker and it was our team name then and now. Johnson, Ken “The Bull” Atkin and “Dangerous" Don Wilford were the original team members of Club Knockout.
A tall, rugged fellow by the name of Lonnie was training with us. Lonnie was about 21. He didn’t follow instructions well. In fact, he wouldn’t do anything I asked him to do. Each time I let him spar he tried to murder his sparring partner. In the gym I never allowed one boxer to abuse another. Since the guys were boxing and hitting each other, obviously someone would get clipped on the chin and would get knocked down or knocked out. But that was a rare occasion. The boxers always wore protective gear, and we were careful not to let things get out of control in practice. They would spar in 16-ounce training gloves and wear a headgear, a protective cup and a mouthpiece.
I was a relatively young coach and didn’t handle the following situation very well. I was trying to teach Lonnie and the other fellows how to box. I normally worked with a boxer for several weeks on technique on the heavy-bag, double end bag and speed bag before I would allow them to begin “controlled sparring.” We would put sparring gloves on two boxers of the same age, weight and skill level and I would allow them to spar with each other using only the jab.
The jab is the most important punch a boxer learns. It isn’t the most powerful punch, but it is usually the most effective punch. A boxer always leads with a jab. It sets all the other punches up. Former world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes dominated the division for seven years, largely on the strength of his great left jab. Holmes realized that to control an opponent in a match, you have to establish the jab first. For a right-handed boxer, the left jab is the lead but the right hand, the left hook and the uppercut are the power punches. The jab is the first punch that you teach to a new boxer. The other punches take months and even years to learn and to incorporate into your fistic arsenal.
Lonnie was sparring with another boxer and the other youngster, as instructed, was using only his jab. Even though I had asked Lonnie to use only his left jab, Lonnie threw wild right hands and screamed at his sparring partners, intentionally trying to hurt them. I was frustrated and angry with him, and I could see that I was going to have to put someone else with experience in to spar with Lonnie. Tim Johnson, Ken Atkin and Don Wilford had been training for a couple of months more than Lonnie. So I gloved Johnson up, who was 19, and whispered in his ear, “I want you to teach this kid a lesson.”
Both of the boxers were gloved and ready to spar. When the bell rang to begin the round, Lonnie let out a blood-curdling scream and charged across the ring toward Johnson. I believe that it actually scared Timmy, and out of fear he threw an incredibly vicious wild right hand that landed squarely on Lonnie’s mouth.
Lonnie crashed to the floor, and the building shook like we were in an earthquake. Johnson knocked Lonnie out cold; he was bleeding from the mouth where the punch had caused a tooth to puncture his lip. His face was as white as a ghost and he looked seriously hurt. It was a very scary moment for me and I turned to Johnson and said, “Gees Timmy, I didn’t mean for you to kill him!”
Jimmy Brindley, another boxer, was standing by watching the sparring. Seeing Lonnie get knocked out so viciously scared Brindley so much that he immediately took off his gloves, left the boxing gym and never returned.
He later told Keith McKnight, “Man, he hit him so hard I saw the light. That’s the end of my boxing career.”
About 15 or 20 seconds later Lonnie came to. He needed a few stitches in his mouth, but other than his pride being hurt he was OK. I don’t know why, but he never returned to the boxing gym, either.