If Jack Johnson Had Lived In To His 90 's..?

Doubt he'd have much of his faculties left if he somehow lived to his 90s.

 

Would have loved to have seen him meet Ali ... easily could have happened if he made it to his later 80's ...

 

Aside from the boxing and head trauma, Johnson was a heavy drinker. He literally died drunk driving. Very few men born in the 1870s lived past their 80s even without all that. Johnson would have been lucky to make it much past his 70s.

 

Johnson would DEFINITELY have something to say about those eras, to say the least lol

 

What if he met Lennox Lewis??

 

I doubt he would’ve liked any version of Ali but who can say for sure.

 

With Johnson's fast life, it is amazing he lived as long as he did. Oddly when he was killed in that car wreck in 1946, he was like only 5 years away from Rocky Marciano's era. Not sure he would of made it to Ali though. he be in about his mid 80's so you never know.

 

I reckon that they'd have hit it off pretty well.

 

Very possible as they could have bonded over their heritage - but I have my doubts. Johnson seems very competitive with, & not especially empathetic to, other Blacks. He may also have resented Ali’s complaints about Black life in the 60’s when he himself had it much worse. Ali seems like he would make overtures to Johnson though, he both respected & was mystified by the man.

I notice, on the other hand, Ali is pretty supportive with Boxers who came later than himself but abused the hell out of his contemporaries, so maybe without Ali as a ring rival, Johnson chills out with age, too.

 

That would have been an incredible thing to happen.

Johnson was one the most intelligent men ever to hold the heavyweight title, if not the most intelligent.

He was far from being the most reliable witness, but his observations would have been more than interesting.

Best of all, he would have lived to see an era, where his no compromise approach could win through in teh end.

On a side note, Rocky Marciano living to 90 is also a fascinating what if.