Dempsey v Langford

Langford often fought at much heavier opponents, eventually started to lose his sight, always fought the best, sometimes carried opponents, fought very often, and didn't quit until he was well past it.

In his prime he amassed a streak of 81-4-5 with a record over the following Hall of Famers as such:

Joe Jeanette 5-0-3
Dixie Kid 2-0
Stanley Ketchel 1-0
Sam McVey 4-1-2
Philadelphia Jack O' Brien 1-0
Harry Wills 1-0-1

 

they could have fought, but it would not have been prime for prime....Langfords prime would have meant that Dempsey was green....dempsey prime means langford is old and shot.

 

what year did the conversation happen? how green was dempsey at that point?

 

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

quality post

 

In 1916, not long before he faced John Lester Johnson.

 

A full three years before Dempsey became champion ..... that puts those comments in context. Not so surprising that Dempsey didn't want a part of Langford at that time.

 

Look at it from this perspective though. At only 16 losses, Robertards stretching to excuse Duran's blemishes, "he needed a poo" has had to have been pulled out of the bag, and thats at only 16 losses.

At worst i think you have to assume Langford was very beatable. Dangerous, but beatable.

 

Anybody would be prety darn beatable if they fought the kind of schedule that Langford did.

Do you think that Muhamad Ali wouldn't have picked up a load of losses, if he had fought the top contenders that frequently and close together?

 

Different times, no special attachment to being unbeaten, throwing fights for rematches, traveling, unknown styles, et cetera

 

With respect, I don't believe you quite understand the context. There was no protected amateur start for Langford - he learned on the job, from lightweight, and competed on even terms with some lower weight formidables - Dave Holly, Jack Blackburn, Joe Walcott. Weekly or monthly schedule, remember.

After losing to Jack Johnson, who outweighed Langford by thirty pounds, he started coming into his own as a matured large middleweight/light heavyweight. That's where the streak started: 81-4-5.

Now... Realise this. Langford didn't just fight the odd bout where his opponent outweighed him - he was doing all the time, and at that same frequency where sometimes there would be only two or three weeks between grueling battles. Sam McVey? Joe Jeanette? Harry Wills? All naturally larger than Langford. It got to the stage where anyone who was actually the same size got obliterated, like Philadelphia Jack O' Brien, Jeff Clark and Kid Norfolk (all Hall of Famers - EDIT: not Clark, though he should be).

Langford ended up as a natural light heavyweight, blown up to 190lbs+, 5ft 7in boxer up against natural 200lbs+ fighters month in, month out. He ended up losing his sight near the end of his career and suffered the fate of many a bad decision against him, and having to fight the same quality (and larger than he) opponents again and again. Nobody was out to protect him.

Of course, beatable. As Janitor says, anyone would be in those circumstances.