Jack Johnson in the 1970's...?

I think Johnson is getting underrated here. I can easily see him defeating the 70s version of Ali, Outslicking foreman, and countering frazier to death(johnson will be stronger than joe on the inside).

 

why do people compare the evolution of boxing to the evolution of other sports?


basketball, football. these sports were not popular before 1880, hell I dont even know if they were even invented then.


Boxing has been around for thousands of years that has been proven.

The only recent big change is going from bare knuckle to gloves.


Jack Johnson would have decimated any era. Like someone else said, Foreman was made for Johnson. And Johnson would have done to Frazier what Ali couldnt during their fight, and thats stay away, AND hit him with power.


Only Ali defeats Johnson. I say 1/5 fights Johnson bests Ali

 

Ludicrous **** going on here. There is little evidence such a primitive fighter could compete in any post 1940 era. There are certain and obvious concerns regarding his preparation, output and ability to withstand a sustained output from a professional boxer, not a piddling one-two clinch and dosey-doe with glorified barroom brawlers. The film footage of him, in modern view, is horrid at best.

Whatever, if Bunyan-esque mythmaking is what turns your wheel, more power to you! Your passion for him is cute, in a puppy dog way, naive and ill-informed.

 

I wouldnt expect someone to watch

Ali Shavers
Ali Spinks
Ali Holmes

and call him the greatest of all time either.


Its all about your ability to properly analyze footage of old, and it seems to me like you don't possess those abilities.

 

ahhh, someone shares my thoughts.

i really don't get it! i don't see this superman at all, am i watching different fights?

i've been re-watching some of jack's fights and compared to nowadays or the seventies, he and the other boxers back then unfortunately look a little amateurish in comparison. i'm really not trying to put the guy down in a nasty way, i really like him and his style in and out the ring. i also do respect what he achieved as well.
i just believe the passage of time has inflated his reputation beyond what it really was.

what i mainly see is, punch, then clinch, waltz, over and over again. how on earth can someone say he would beat a seventies ali!!!! imo that is the most outrageous thing i've ever heard.

i am happy to be corrected. i would be glad to re-watch particular fights of jack's that show how great he was, and could've been in the seventies.

 

I think Ol' Jackson Johnson could hang with the 70s heavies........ It would be easy for him to go up 2 ounces and utilize a regular 8oz. glove which was still in effect for heavyweight use in the 70s...... Hell, Johnson wore pillow gloves while sparring during his camp....... And Johnson's defense is always a plus factor, too........

The 15 round distance would be fine with Johnson, as well..........

If anything would need to change in Johnson's style it would be the need to be more offensive and less playful during the fight........

Johnson is fine for the 70s.......

MR.BILL

 

Yeah, it's like the myth that any boxer from the 1960s could compete today. It's cute to think that Ali, Frazier and Liston could win against a modern top 10 boxer, but if you look at their styles it's obvious that they couldn't. They would be too primitive to beat the likes of Wlad, Vitali and David Haye. Can you imagine Liston vs. Haye? It would be even shorter than Ali-Liston II.

 

It's asking a great deal from anyone to contain Joe Frazier with just the crook of the arms. In Johnson's time, he had the use of his thumbs to grab. As the question stands, I believe Jack would likely sport a losing record against the 3 best of the 1970's. This assuming he does not acclimate to the rules and equipment of the era enough to change his style (this assumed because a fighter so acclimated would be unrecognizable to us, hence no longer truly Jack Johnson).

Adjustments like constant gloved blocking, which he is expected adopt, would not ensure the same success he enjoyed in his pomp. I'd give him a modest chance of upsetting Foreman and maybe making Ali look not quite himself, but Frazier is a tough assignment particularly for his skillset.

On the flipside, if the reverse were asked, and it were the three transported to a different time, then Johnson's odds improve dramatically. Then again, knowing the period, and between a group of all-time greats, it would probably just result in a ton of draws.

 

Ali, Frazier, Foreman KO him, alot of others win

 

Tyson acted like a badass.
Ali talked like a badass.
Jack Johnson was a badass.

:deal

 

He´d beat Ken Norton though.

 

I do not think it is that simple. There were very talented boxers in Johnson's age and he was one of them. Are you saying Joe Gans was a barroom brawler ? Who taught the guys in the 20's and thirties ? Blackburn taught Louis ... I nderstand how one might feel watching Stanley Ketchel footage but there is far more to the story ...

 

I agree. Take the best footballer of that time and put him in a CL-final today. It would be a sad sight.

 

Just like the 1960s, which is why it's a joke to match-up someone like Ali against Wladimir Klitschko.

 

That may be true. Personally, I think Pele definitely would be competitive today, if not as dominant.