The more you look at it, the more incredible it is. He and Harry Wills must have hated the sight of each other after 17 encounters. It is so, so far removed from the modern era it almost appears surreal.
I think that it almost seemed surreal at the time, and that was when fighters fought a lot more often!
Yeah, it is pretty amazing. Is there a reason why Fox's color title is handled with less respect than current WBA reg champions? No one in boxing seems to push back against the inclusion of regular title holders but if you include colored title holders you'll quickly be told guys like Langford and Wills were never HW champions. Don't get me wrong if you bring up regular belts most fans are against them, but never not once has anyone given me slack for including regs in my champions list and giving me business for colored guys and Lee Savold has become the regular response more or less anywhere I post it.
Honestly I hold the color title in much higher regard. The trouble with counting it that if the holder loses to a white person, the white person doesn't become the colored champion. I agree with inclusion though. There some that almost certainly should have been the World Champion, like Jackson, some that almost certainly shouldn't, and plenty somewhere between, it's a part of the story that ought be told with proper detail.
Are there many examples of “colored title “ titleholders losing to non blacks and retaining their title?
Langford and Greb both have amazing resumes. I think Greb's is s bit better but would not put up a huge argument if one thought contrary. There will never be another fighter to remotely compare to either of these.
Yeah, without looking at any of Smith's books to make sure I want to say it'd be pretty commonplace. Not just white though, I seem to remember losses between winning a colored title and losing it being justified by those fights being non-title fights. Whites of course can't fight for the colored title so I want to say those would be rationalized as non-title fights. I'll read up on it and give you a better answer if you're interested.
Thank you,If you do come across any information please share. This discussion brings up some very interesting points which have not thought about in relation to our current alphabet morass of titles. The holders of those titles should be given at least the same recognition as many of the shareholder champions of recent vintage.Frankly, it’s something I hadn’t really thought about very much since learning about it prior to splintering of titles.
No one compares w Langford other than Charles. To dominate the best fighters in weight class after weight class and duck no one is exceptional. Langford fought Gans, Blackburn, Walcott, Ketchel, Jeannette, Johnson, Wills, Norfolk, Flowers, McVey, Godfrey .. it is astonishing. Honestly no one tops it. Charles is second. Then Greb. An immortal Robinson comes in fourth.
He was the Mexican Heavyweight Champ as well as the Australian Heavyweight champ. That's about as high a level as you can get in the boxing world. I mean who else had bith titles?
