Carl Olson

Carl Olson, boxer: born Honolulu 11 July 1928; married; died Honolulu 16 January 2002.

While Carl Olson possessed all the qualities necessary to become middleweight champion of the world, a title he held with some distinction between 1953 and 1955, it was his misfortune to ply his trade in the shadow of a man widely regarded as the finest boxer of all time. On four occasions Olson entered the ring with Sugar Ray Robinson, and on four occasions he emerged the loser, three times by knockout.

But, if "Bobo" Olson was a ring artisan, rather than artist, he was still a performer of courage, determination and a seemingly bottomless reservoir of stamina. Stocky, balding, and tattooed, with a busy bob-and-weave style, he worked hard to get inside opponents' defences before grinding them down with non-stop punches. Thus it was that Britain's former world champion Randolph Turpin found himself battered to defeat over 15 rounds when the pair met to contest the vacant world championship in New York in October 1953.

Olson's road to the title began in the improbable surroundings of Honolulu, where he was born in 1928 to a Swedish-American father, a sergeant in the US Army, and a Portuguese-American mother. Nicknamed Bobo after a younger sister's attempt to say "brother", Olson learned to box while growing up in the tough Kalai district of Hawaii's capital.

At the age of 15, he was working on a dairy farm and as a night-club bouncer, and in the following year, 1945, he had his first professional fight, lying about his age to gain the necessary licence. Over the next five years, Olson built up a reputation as a brave and rugged fighter who always gave his best. In October 1950, a bout was secured with Robinson for the world title as recognised by the state of Pennsylvania. Olson was knocked out in the 12th round.

Two years later, after Robinson had gained universal recognition as champion by defeating Jake La Motta, Olson challenged him again. Although he lost on points, the Hawaiian was cheered by ringsiders who felt he had done enough to win. When Robinson announced his retirement, Olson faced Turpin and, after a slow start, found his range to twice knock the ex-champion to the canvas and take the title.

In 1954, Olson defended his crown on three occasions: in April, he outpointed the current welterweight champion Kid Gavilan (perhaps his most impressive career win); in August he defeated Rocky Castellani, also on points, while in December he stopped Pierre Langlois in 11 rounds.

Olson began to harbour illusions about fighting Rocky Marciano for the heavyweight crown, but a three-round loss to Archie Moore for the light-heavyweight title in June 1955 served to restore his perspective. In Chicago in December of that year, Olson once again faced Robinson, whose retirement had proved short-lived, only to be knocked out in two rounds. A return bout in May 1956 saw Olson extend the great man only as far as the fourth round.

After a brief lay-off, Olson battled on for another 10 years, in light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. By 1964, he was poised to challenge Willie Pastrano for the light-heavyweight title but a one-round loss to the future champion Jose Torres proved the end of his top-flight ambitions.

Leaving the ring in November 1966 with a record of 98 wins (45 knockouts), 2 draws and 16 losses, Olson then worked as an operating engineer until his retirement. In his later years, he suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

John Exshaw