JOHNSON, HAROLD-JULIO MEDEROS POST FIGHT WIRE PHOTO (1955)

HISTORY: Harold Johnson fought Julio Mederos on May 6, 199 at the Arena in Philadelphia. Johnson was stopped in the 2nd round in a fight clouded by controversy. Harold Johnson, the No. 1 light heavyweight contender, entered his fight against Julio Mederos as a 2-1 betting favorite. Shortly before the bout, the odds favoring Johnson had been 4-1. Five months earlier, Johnson had defeated Mederos by a ten-round unanimous decision. Johnson stumbled entering the ring, but it was thought he tripped over a rope. He danced around in the first round, hitting Mederos with a sharp left jab. Mederosa caught him with a solid right to the chin just before the bell, and Johnson staggered to his corner. In the second round, Johnson continued to jab and move until he suddenly fell to his knees without being hit. When he regained his feet, Mederosa moved in for the finish but didn't appear to land any damaging punches. At the end of the round, Johnson staggered to his corner and had trouble finding the stool. Shortly after sitting down, he collapsed onto the canvas. Johnson was carried from the ring on a stretcher. A trace of a barbiturate was found in a urinalysis performed on Johnson at Hahnemann Hospital. Pennsylvania Governor George M. Leader said a report by Dr. Alfred S. Ivella, the commission's physician, and several specialists who examined Johnson "show they are of the unanimous opinion that a barbiturate was administered to Harold Johnson prior to his scheduled boxing match with Julio Mederos." Based on the report, Leader suspended boxing in Pennsylvania for 90 days and instructed the commission to launch a probe during the 90-day period. The suspension went into effect on May 11, but didn't apply to bouts that were already scheduled. As the commission probed the charges, the ban was extended pending new regulations to tighten control over the sport. The suspension lasted 114 days Clarence Davidson, Johnson's trainer, said his fighter began acting "queer" in his dressing room after taking a bite of an orange, which Johnson complained tasted "bitter." He said Johnson staggered about the dressing room but claimed he felt fine before entering the ring. A chemical analysis of a piece of the orange found in his dressing room after the fight showed no trace of a drug or barbiturate Lie detector tests on Johnson and others substantiated their stories. Johnson testified before the commission that he didn't know how, or if, he had been drugged. He said the orange was probably the source of his illness and claimed the orange had been given to him on the afternoon of the fight outside the commission's office by a stranger who said he was a "long-time admirer." He also testified that Louis Saccaroma, one of Mederos' three managers, was in his dressing room shortly before the fight. Saccaroma, identified by Pennsylvania police as a narcotics convict, denied Johnson's statement, saying he was at his home the night of the bout After a nine-day hearing, the commission ruled that Johnson knew he was not in condition to fight and failed to report that fact to commission officials on duty that night. Johnson was suspended for six months and his purse of $4,113.33 was forfeited. Johnson's trainer, Clarence Davidson, and his manager, Thomas Loughrey, also received six-month suspensions The probe never did uncover who drugged Johnson or how the drug was administered. Offered here is an original wire photo which depicts Johnson being administered to in the hospital the day after the fight.

FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original Associated Press wire photo with their stamp on back and caption on front. Bold, clear image. Harold Johnson name circled in ink on caption, otherwise clean front and back. Not creased or torn. 7" x 9 1/2."