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Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson
9/1/03
By Jason Collins
Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson is perhaps the best fighter that many boxing fans missed during the nineties. Johnson's lightning speed and dazzling combinations enabled him to dominate the flyweight and super flyweight divisions throughout the decade. His uncanny combination of speed, paired with an ability to put together punches from all angles led to an uncharacteristically high knockout ratio for a fighter in such a low weight division. "Too Sharp" is also the first African-American to win flyweight and super flyweight titles.
Unfortunately for Johnson, many fans missed his prime performances. Even in title fights, American fighters in the lower weight classes like Johnson have had an especially difficult time getting large purses and finding places on major PPV cards. Until stepping up in weight class to take on Rafael Marquez, Johnson often found himself on fringe PPV events that only the most hardcore boxing fans ordered.
 Another reason that, despite his accomplishments, Johnson has not become a household name even among boxing fans is the lack of big names on his resume. Johnson was never able to land fights with the bigger names in the lower weight divisions. During his prime, Johnson sought fights against the likes of Johnny Tapia. But Tapia avoided Johnson like the plague. Perhaps the prospect of entering an invariably tough fight without a huge payday dissuaded Johnson's contemporaries from stepping into the ring with him.
In the biggest fight of his career against Rafael Marquez, Johnson experienced more of the bad luck that seemed to follow him through his career. An hour after being awarded the bantamweight belt, it was discovered that the score cards had been tallied incorrectly. After a recount, it was determined that Marquez was the winner. Johnson handed over the belt. Johnson's rematch against Marquez demonstrated that a few pounds can have a very large impact in the lower weight classes. Stepping up to take on a true 118 pound bantamweight, Johnson was KO'd by Marquez in the 6th round of the rematch. Consistent with the misfortune that has plagued Too-Sharp, his two losses against a younger and noticeably larger Marquez received the most television exposure of his long career.
On August 16th, Johnson re-established himself by winning the IBF Junior Bantamweight title against a competitive and much younger Fernando Montiel. Click here for Johnson's career record and more information on "Too Sharp."
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