Bobo Olson

Carl "Bobo" Olson (July 11, 1928 – January 16, 2002) was an American boxer.

During 1945, Olson ran off to San Francisco to continue his boxing career.

By the time he was 18, he had amassed a record of 13 successive wins (10 by KO).

Even at this stage his power and huge reserves of stamina were clear, as was his rather average skill.

The first real test of Olson's career came on March 20, 1950, Olson's record at this point was 40 wins and 2 losses, against the Australian Dave Sands.

Olson lost to a close points decision in Sydney.

Seven months after this Olson had his first fight against Sugar Ray Robinson, for the lowly regarded Pennsylvania State World Middleweight Title.

Olson, who was widely seen as a slow starter, failed to get into the fight, even though Robinson was not having one of his best fights.

Olson managed to hold on for 11 rounds before being knocked out.

Despite his great record it was clear that Olson was still too inexperienced to be fighting at that level.

A year after his loss to Robinson, Olson managed to get a rematch against Dave Sands.

This fight was the first to be televised coast-to-coast in America.

However, Sands once again proved too much for Olson, he again won by unanimous decision.

On March 13, 1952 Olson fought Robinson again, this time for the world middleweight title.

Robinson, who had lost and regained the title against Randy Turpin in his previous two fights, was looking for an easy fight.

However, Olson had improved significantly from their first encounter.

Through ten rounds the fight was neck-and-neck, and only a dominant finish by Robinson over the last five rounds won him the decision.

The Los Angeles Times wrote that Robinson won the first six rounds easily, slowly stacking up points, but that Olson reduced the points margin in the seventh through tenth.

Robinson won the fifteenth convincingly with hard rights and lefts.

This would be the only time that Olson lasted the duration against Robinson.

Robinson retired for the first time in December 1952, vacating his middleweight crown.

The top four contenders fought a tournament for the title.

Olson defeated Paddy Young for the American title to gain the right to fight for the vacant world title, Turpin won the other eliminator against Charley Humez.

He was the World Middleweight champion between October 1953 and December 1955, the longest reign of any champion in that division during the 1950s.

His nickname was based on his younger sister's mispronunciation of "brother".

Olson was born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii to a Portuguese mother and a Swedish father, hence his other nickname "The Hawaiian Swede".

Like many boxers, Olson decided to take up the sport after getting into fights on the streets.

Olson received training from boxers who were stationed in Hawaii during World War II, and it was during this period that he picked up his two trademark tattoos.

Using a fake identity card Olson obtained a boxing license at the age of 16.

His earliest fights were in his native Kalihi, Hawaii.

He had won his first three contests, two by knockout, before his true age was discovered.

The title fight against Turpin took place on October 21, 1953, at Madison Square Garden.

Turpin dominated the first four rounds, he almost scored a knockdown in the first round, before Olson got a grip on the fight.

Following his success Olson was voted Ring magazine's fighter of the year for 1953.

Olson won all seven of his fights in 1954 including defenses of his title against such big names as Kid Gavilan, Rocky Castellani, and Pierre Langlois.

In 1955 Olson, who was finding it increasingly difficult to make weight, stepped up to light heavyweight.

His first major fight in this category was against former champion Joey Maxim.

Olson won the fight easily on points after scoring knockdowns in both the 2nd and 9th rounds.

On June 22 Olson challenged 41-year-old Archie Moore for the light heavyweight title, a fight that many believed Olson would easily win.

As the fight progressed Olson took the initiative, he scored knockdowns in the 10th and 11th rounds on the way to a unanimous decision.