Johnny Coulon, born in Toronto, Canada, in 1889, was a professional boxer who rose to fame not only for his impressive boxing career as a world bantamweight champion but also for a peculiar vaudeville act that earned him the moniker “The Unliftable Man.” Despite his small stature (around 5 feet tall and weighing about 110 pounds), Coulon mystified audiences and even strongmen, wrestlers, and later, legendary boxers like Muhammad Ali, who were unable to lift him off the ground.
Coulon’s boxing career spanned from 1905 to 1920. He became the world bantamweight champion in 1910, holding the title for four years. After retiring from the ring, he transitioned to the vaudeville circuit, where his “unliftable” act became a sensation.
The act was simple; the tiny Coulon would first allow himself to be lifted by his “opponent,” typically a big heavyweight boxer, wrestler or weightlifter. The opponent would initially have no difficulty at all hoisting the smaller man into the air, especially as Coulon would tense his body into a straight vertical line and bear down upon the lifter’s wrists, effectively assisting in the lift.
Coulon would then apply his special counter-grip, in which he lightly seized the would-be lifter’s right wrist (over the pulse-point) with his left hand and placed his right index finger on the left side of the lifter’s neck, near the carotid artery. The results were always the same; regardless of how much he strained and struggled, the lifter couldn’t budge Coulon from the floor.
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