23 Facts About Johnny Buff

John Lisky, better known as Johnny Buff, was an American boxer.

Johnny Buff was the Undisputed World Bantamweight Champion from 1921 to 1922.

Johnny Buff later took the ring name "Buff" as his friends where he grew up often called him "Buffalo".

Johnny Buff enlisted in the Navy in 1911, at the age of 23, but did not become seriously involved in boxing until 1915, when he boxed for the Navy aboard the USS Rhode Island.

Johnny Buff served in the Navy until roughly 1919 at the end of World War I, though he would later re-enlist.

Johnny Buff defeated Tommy Gorman at the Armory in Reading, Pennsylvania, in a second-round knockout on December 16,1919.

Johnny Buff led noticeably in the first round landing a flurry of blows against which Johnny Buff could not defend.

Johnny Buff first fought future champion Abe Goldstein on July 6,1920, in New Jersey in a twelve-round, no-decision bout, where several newspapers gave him a decided edge.

In 1921, Johnny Buff won both the World Bantamweight Championship and the American Flyweight Championship.

Johnny Buff became the flyweight champion by defeating Abe Goldstein in New York City on March 31,1921.

Johnny Buff floored the Kid for a count of nine in the first round, and battered him around the ring consistently in the fourteenth.

On May 2,1921, Johnny Buff defended his American Flyweight Championship against Eddie O'Dowd at Madison Square Garden in a twelve-round unanimous decision.

Johnny Buff defeated Charles Ledoux on August 10,1921, in a non-title fight in the Bronx in a ten-round points decision.

Six months after taking the American Flyweight Championship, on September 23,1921, Johnny Buff won the World Bantamweight Championship by defeating Pete Herman in Madison Square Garden in a fifteen-round points decision.

Johnny Buff took ten of the fifteen rounds, with only four given to Herman and one even.

Johnny Buff was remarkable for taking a world title at the advanced age for a boxer of 32.

Johnny Buff had a noteworthy defense of the World Bantamweight Title at Madison Square Garden against Jackie Sharkey on November 10,1921, in a fifteen-round points decision.

On July 10,1922, Johnny Buff lost the World Bantamweight Championship to Joe Lynch at the Velodrome in New York in a fourteenth-round TKO.

Johnny Buff was unable to get past the defenses of Lynch and landed comparatively fewer blows.

Johnny Buff officially lost the American Flyweight Championship on September 14,1922, in an eleventh-round technical knockout against the great Filipino boxer Pancho Villa at Ebbets Field in New York City.

Johnny Buff was down twice in the tenth and once in the eleventh.

Johnny Buff married Elizabeth Kolar, with whom he had three children, Jimmy, Johnny, and Theresa.

Johnny Buff was 66 years old and had been a resident of Jersey City most of his life.