I would have to go with Sam if he tweaks his defense a little. Otherwise he is wide open for Canelo to land more and get hit less.
To quote the modernists, different weight classes! Yes Sam Langford was a short man, but he was basically a stunted heavyweight. His power and chin, were up there with any pre 70s heavyweight. He was good at literally everything, except being tall. Sending any middleweight in against a prime Langford, would be cruelty to children!
I was reading the memoir of Bill Lang who said he thought his best chance was not to box and run b hes not open at all how many shots does he get hit with in the footage of him on film, I barely see him getting hit ,but let me guess he doesnt glue his hands to the head aka high guard so that must mean he was open to being hit.
Canelo would outbox him. Langford was brawler who was prime at 175-180 lbs. He couldn't catch Canelo.
There's a lot of similarities between Langford and the stalking Canelo of more recent fights. I pick Langford, but Canelo is hard to stop, he has an excellent chin, and Langford regularly went the distance against his better opponents. I think there's a good chance of it going the distance.
Based entirely on our imaginations, we must be pick Langford by ko with the first punch bc there's no footage that proves otherwise.
You have watched Sam Langford fight right? I am going to sound like a broken record but I don't care. Langford would not look like that today and Canelo would not fight the way he does then either. You don't realize just how impactful the gloves are have you seen a pair of gloves from Sam's era? If you took Sam as he was here he get's beat up, If you put Canelo in with Lang as he is today he get's brutalized on the inside.