Former Heavyweight Champion Ingemar Johansson Dies

Johansson, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his last years, passed away a little before midnight at home in Kungsbacka.

Sweden's former world heavyweight boxing champion Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson died late on Friday at the age of 76, the Swedish Boxing Federation said on Saturday.

Johansson won the title in 1959, knocking out American Floyd Patterson in the third round at the Yankee Stadium in New York.

"The greatest of them all has moved on," the Swedish Boxing Federation said on its website.

Johansson, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his last years, passed away a little before midnight at home in Kungsbacka in southwest Sweden, his daughter Maria Gregner told news agency TT.

Patterson, who regained the world championship title in 1960, became close friends with Johansson.

Johansson had won the European Heavyweight championship by knocking out Italian Franco Cavicchi in 1956, and defended the title against Henry Cooper in 1957 and Joe Erskine in 1958.

He earned his shot at the world heavyweight title by knocking out Eddie Machen in the first round of their elimination match in 1958.

In 1982 he was presented with the Olympic silver medal withheld from him in 1952. He was at the time disqualified in the final for running from American Ed Sanders, but that ruling was overturned 30 years later.