Sam langford, great?

it's not even worth a response...

 

Okay then. As I said before, I don't think Johnson would have been dethroned. He let his guard down against Ketchel, who he may have been carrying before getting sucker punched. (There is some debate about this, as some earlier action in the film appears pretty contentious.)

Johnson's final successful defense came in Paris against Frank Moran in June 1914, footage readily available on youtube. Frank was slow, but matched Johnson in height and is recorded as having a longer reach. He also had excellent power with his "Mary Ann" right. Wasn't enough. A strong case can be made that Sam should have gotten Moran's shot in Paris, off the 20 round win over Jeannette there the previous December.

Lil' Artha' would have whipped himself into shape for any title rematch with a highly motivated Langford. With his seven inch height advantage, strength and skill in the clinches, defense and endurance still equal to the 20 round distance even at age 36, I have a hard time envisioning Sam breaking through to get the job done. But if he was ever going to dethrone Johnson, 1914 would have been the time to do it. Jeannette did have some success outboxing Sam from long range. Jack was taller, and a much better defensive specialist. A film of his 1926 15 round decision over Pat Lester reportedly shows subtle nuances of his elusive movements not evident in the more technologically primitive footage of his championship years.

 

great, was always a casual fan but at 22 i got hardcore into boxing. started building my fight library, watching as much old footage as possible (now we have youtube!), and started working out at my local boxing gym. don't worry about what a lot of the people say on these classic boards. everyone on here thinks they know everything about the sport but you'll find out they are mostly full of it. mostly just a lot of biased opinions here (which i'm guilty of too) but every once in a while you'll get some good info.

as far as langford goes, he's easily one of the greatest fighters ever and with his resume there's a good argument that he belongs at the top of the list. the little footage we have of him is great. sam was a destroyer even though he was the smaller man in the majority of his fights.

 

lol /thread

 

I'm only 22. What? What now? Hmm? Yeah.

Sorry man, I'm just high. But seriously, study his record and read the accounts of those who fought him. He beat a top 3 LW (Gans) and a top 10 (Wills) HW. Not to mention everyone in between.

 

I don't know ... who'd he ever fight ?

 

His record : the opponents he fought , the number of times he fought each one of them , the final results of those fights , the size differences he often encountered in many of his fights ,


;the reasons to why he didn't fight the reigning champions of his era .

 

Yes, it's true about McMustache, but what about Glurg?

 

I'm reading more and more about this guy. He was tremendous. I heard that,in one fight,he told his opponent exactly where on the canvas he would fall. Even if that was n't true,it stills adds to the legend of an incredible fighter.

 

Excellent encapsulation,my compliments.:good