Maria Johansson

Who is Maria Johansson?

Maria Johansson is a former female boxer who is the daughter of Sweden's first and, so far, only, world Heavyweight boxing champion, Ingemar Johansson.

Maria grew up in a boxing family: her father, of course, is a celebrity in Sweden. He and his main rival, Floyd Patterson, are spoken about on a first name basis in Sweden.

During the early 1990s, a new trend in boxing began: relatives of former world champion boxers began to box professionally themselves. Although Joe Frazier had two sons and one daughter, Jackie Frazier-Lyde, fight. it wasn't until Patterson's own adoptive son, Tracy Harris Patterson, became a world champion boxer, that the trend began to pick up momentum. When Maria Johansson became a professional boxer, she joined Laila Ali, Hector Camacho Jr., Irichelle Duran and Freeda Foreman, among others, as relatives of boxing champions who were active boxers themselves. Later on, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Juan Martin Coggi Jr. and Roberto Duran Jr., among others, would also join the list.

Maria Johansson fought as a Light Heavyweight. She wanted to fight among others, Ali, Foreman and Frazier-Lyde, figuring out that her last name and those of the aforementioned potential rivals, along with their established status in women's boxing, would draw much fan attention.