Did Gunboat Smith deserve a title shot?

And Toxie Hall TKO'd Marciano.atsch

 

It was a sparexhibition.

 

I hope for the sake of mendoza's reputation i'm wrong here; surely he isn't trying to claim a sparring session was an actual boxing match just to attempt at dampening jack's legacy?

I hope i'm wrong and i've missed something obvious here.

 

Where do you imagine Mendoza's reputation stands in the scheme of things?
ie Truth ,veracity,objectivity,open mindedness,wiilingness to admit to error,flexibility of views.

I have NEVER read a post by Mendoza in which he has admitted he was WRONG.
I have never read a post by Mendoza concerning Jack Johnson in which he was not wrong somewhere and, not accidental mistakes ,[ though, god knows he makes enough of them,] I mean blatant lying,and then,repeating those lies at a later date , over and over,long after they have been exposed as the pathetic lies they are.

I am using a bludgeon here ,you are using a rapier, both are highlighting the absolutely desperate measures to which he will resort to try and traduce John Arthur Johnson.

 

Yes, he does and he did for a long time. Sadly he goes overboard with love and hatred for certain fighters ´cause he actually is quite knowledgable but this kind of behaviour devalues a lot of the other stuff what he posts. You never can be sure if it´s a fact or a lie.

 

I know where my money would go.

 

Smith was for a short while considered the best of the "Whites", probably so too were Kaufman, Morris, McCarty, Pelkey, Coffey, Moran and maybe more. None of them were on top long eneough to be entitled to a title fight but at the correct given time all were deserving of a fight if they got it. Probably more than Ross, Flynn or Jim Johnson when they got their shot but only on very narrow time frames.
I mean there were times when the three outstanding black hopes were not entitled to a shot but most of the time they were. It's all about timing and understanding the situations at the time. Coffey was very highly touted for a while but is never mentioned nowadays and Willard was not particularly a stand-out when he got his shot.

 

He seems more like a man out to convince rather than a man out to learn and that's always going to lead to a narrow viewpoint.

The hw chart he did was great imo.

It can't be denied he's less than objective regarding johnson and I have no idea why. If johnson's legacy was based on his work after jeffries, i'd accept it was **** poor. But his legacy is based on his work in the 1900's and I genuinely see no reason nor merit in criticising a man win cleaned out the division.

 

This post above is an objective look at the situation as it stood.


There were moves afoot for Johnson to fight McCarty, but time ran out. Morris lost to Flynn ,so that really put him on the back foot.
I don't think Coffey was ever a viable challenger looking at his record,his window of opportunity was even narrower than Smith's.
I dont see much wrong with Jim Johnson as a challenger,it was a hastily organised defence against a man who had beaten Bill Tate ,Black Bill, Tom Cowler,Jewey Smith,Tony Ross and ,drawn with Jeannette ,and McVey.He was coming off of 4 ko wins in his last 4 fights. Kaufman was comprehensively outclassed, Moran was beaten by an overweight, 35 year old Johnson .
Pelkey was never a credible opponent for Johnson.

Jim Coffey.

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Below two heavyweights with the right complexion.

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Pelkey & Smith.

 

Thanks for the Coffey photo, never seen it before.
He probably shouldn't have loomed as a contender but he was white and Irish, and it scuppered all plans when Moran Maryanned him-not once but twice. He was pretty good holding his own with Smith, Flynn, Morris, Pelky, Levinsky, Brennan and a host more. He could box and punch but had the dreaded glass jaw. However at the time for a while he was rated highly.

 

Seen these Matt?

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Coffey seems taller than 6'1 in those pictures. Wells was 6'3.

 

No, McVey, they are superb.
Coffey was often listed as taller but the "Irish Giant" was probably 6-1 as the lowest claim is usually accurate?
Maybe Wells wasn't 6-3?

 

I expect you have seen them ,but I have just put some photos of Sailor Tom up on the classic pictures thread.

 

Seen some but not all before. Great stuff.
PS clear your inbox!