Jeffries got what he deserved ...

the version of Langford that Wills beat in their first encounters, was unequivocally better than the version that Johnson beat.

 

Do you regard it as justice when Jess Willard knocked Jack Johnson out, because he had avoided Sam Langford, and treated him shamefully?

If not, then why do you take a different stance on that?

 

I prefer to look at it as a sort of morality tale.

Almost a latter day fable

 

You dont think those other guys get flak? I hear people talk about robinsons woman beating and monzons murder all the time. I know i bring up corrales and mayweather's various incidents on a semi regular basis. But the fact that other people have beaten their wives is hardly a defense or an excuse for johnson to get a pass and his wife beating was hardly the only negative aspect of his personality. HE turning a blind eye to that as if we cant prove he was an ass is laughable. The sources from both the black and white and foreign press on that fact are legion. His list of antisocial behavioral incidents is a mile long and frankly he revelled in it, which itself illustrates just how antisocial he was. To portray him as some kind of iconoclast or ahead of his time is so ridiculously obtuse it strains credibility. He was no civil rights activist. In fact he single handedly set that cause back nearly 40 yrs. And if he was ahead of his time then he was better representative of morons like michael brown who think they have a free pass to take what they want, try to bully anyone that tries to force them to live by the laws of this society and then ***** about racism when the consequences of their own actions are borne. I have no patience and no time for such people or their misguided defenders. Like I said, Johnson was a great fighter and very difficult match for anyone but my respect for his ability is matched by my disdain for his behavior outside of the ring, which was a reflection of his own hubris, not the society he grew up in.

 

It's a pretty good wrap up but there's a little more to it IMO.

The fight itself blur the lines between the racist element in the society of the time and Jeffries himself.

While it's true Jeffries chose to wear the vest of the white supremacist champion and behaved accordingly, denying Johnson his chance, acting smug, condescending, making insulting offers to Johnson and so on (all of it his choice period.), it's also true he was the one who really took one for all the racists. That's literally and also historically. He is remembered as THE white racist champion moreso than Sullivan himself. And the fact that he is the one remembered (not Sullivan, or Tunney, or Loughran, etc. ) is as much fault of the rest of the racist cvnts as is his own. Which is interesting. If from Johnson's perspective he got what he deserved, the inbreds were the ones that really f*cked 'im.

 

:good

 

I often feel bad when an older Great Champion takes a beating from a younger guy. Jeffries was a complete shell of himself as was Johnson when he was beaten by Willard and Louis by Marciano and Ali by Holmes.

I take no pleasure in seeing an older fighter take a beating as was in the case of B-Hop vs Kov and while I respect Hopkins as a fighter his remarks have often been ignorant, I still felt very bad for him only struggling to survive

 

Steve please point out any post of mine that excuses Johnson beating his wife.

I am an apologist for no one ,I have called Johnson a **** on this forum.
Jeffries was by no means Mr Clean, he was good to his wife , [most of us are,]but he reneged on gambling debts and was a thorough going racist,who had the courtesies of a gorilla
. Jeffries constantly referred to Johnson as a ****** and a Skunk Johnson never bad mouthed Jeffries and he had every reason to do so.
Jeffries refused to shake hands with Johnson before the fight
and Johnson was waved away when he went over to offer his commiserations after the fight.

If Johnson was an ****hole ,what was Jeffries?

 

I agree with your post[which may surprise you,] but boxing is formulated on, "the king is dead ,long live the King!"

 

In 1904 he probably would have ,and where would he be ranked today ?
Top ten I would guess.