Who fought better versions of Langford, Jeannette and Mcvey? Johnson or WIlls?

You would have to answer that on a case by case basis!

Langford - Wills
McVea - You could argue it either way
Jeanette - Johnson

 

Pretty fantastic question and I will say Johnson for sure .. the Langford he fought for sure .. I have always questioned Jeanette's number of fights for Johnson for sure as he was in his own physical prime .. McVey was young but again so tough and strong opposed to the mileage he had when Wills fought him ..

 

Definitely Wills. Langford and McVea were 31 years old in 1914 and on nice winning streaks rated top 3 in the world.

When Langford fought Johnson in 1906, he was only 156lb not a heavyweight. McVea was very green less than 10 pro fights when he tackled Johnson. Neither men were ranked top 10 when Johnson fought them.

1913 Jeanette was a better version than the 10-10 unrated Jeanette whom Johnson fought in 1906. Jeanette was rated top 5 in the world in 1913


No question Wills!

 

The 8-2 McVea as good as the 59-10 McVea of 1914? No you can’t argue either way


The 1906 10-10 Jeanette better than the 83-20 Jeanette of 1913? No way

 

A more pertinent question might be how did he do against them and at what stage of their careers?

 

Jeannette was 39 years old when Wills beat him. Do we give credit for just facing men or do they have to beat them? If just facing them is enough.:
Lets put Fireman Jim Flynn on a pedestal!

 

You should know by now that McVea's Boxrec record is incomplete at that point.

 

I can see that a more precise appraisal is needed in each case:

Langford
When Langford fought Johnson he was a local level talent, in his first serious foray up to heavyweight. Langford was clearly a top contender when Wills beat him for the first time, however he had lost to Sam McVea earlier that year, and had arguably ceased to be the outstanding contender. Despite these reservations, we must give the edge to Wills.

McVea
McVea was a top contender when Johnson beat him, and was being touted as the obvious challenger for Jeffries title. It was this win that cemented the view of the media, that Johnson was the outstanding challenger for Jeffries title. McVea was 34 and very shopworn when Wills beat him. It should also be noted that Wills lost in his first two outings against McVea. Even so, his aforementioned win over the declining Langford, probably left him as the top contender on paper. It is roughly even here in my opinion.

Jeanette
Jeannette was still a local level fighter on paper when Johnson beat him, but he was clearly a very serious threat at this stage. The version that Wills beat was 39 years old, abdly shop worn, and coming off two losses to Kid Norfolk. He was clearly well out of the argument regarding serious title challengers at this stage. I am going to give the edge to Johnson here.

It is hard to see how I can vote, since I am not clearly giving the edge to either Johnson or Wills here.

 

An even -handed ,unbiased post!

 

There was stuff like closed door fights etc. it probably never will be complete. Though McVea being a teenager and Jeanette's early losses don't really scream top fighter

 

The Langford Johnson fought had over fifty professional fights (a career today), was twenty three, had fought and beaten Jeanette, Blackburn, Holly, Walcott ( robbed ) and Gans .. he was in his physical prime at his best, natural weight .. Johnson had the same thirty ponds on him that he's have if they fought ten years later .. also, Sam had his vision. I do not think a slower, fatter Langford with serious vision problems was better any more than feel the James Toney that fought at 190 was any better than the prime version .. no doubt the man Wills fought was dangerous but that man was at his best at middleweight , faster, better conditioned and with full vision ..