Whilst chilling on the beach yesterday, I realised I'd never contemplated this matchup before. Would either man be better off at either weight? Or would we see the best matchup possible attheir 'peak' weights? (IMO, close to 175 for Langford, Tunney as a light heavy) Can Langford chase Tunney down and put a beating on him? Or will Tunney evade The Boston Tar Baby and get the points with his jab and sneaky right?
I cautiously think a seasoned Tunney would win this. He was a master of distance and fast as a lightning bug. Two of my most favorite boxers ever. And **** you for being on a beach.
The seasoned Tunney who was soundly beating Greb and went on to eat Dempsey would likely keep Langford on the outside and use his fast jab and right to outbox Langford. The version who lose to Greb would likely get beat up by Langford
Did Tunney ever fight a black man? I continuously see Tunney picked in fantasy threads over these african american greats, when in his own era he refused to fighter the better ones and drew the color line. He should be penalized for this. He is a bit unproven in that regard. I believe Sam will find tunney's chin at some point during the fight and finish what dempsey started. Langford Late KO
He wanted a fight with Harry Wills but Wills chose not to fight him. He should be penalized for not fighting some of the better black contenders of the era (Norfolk? Godfrey?) but stylistically none truly resembled Sam Langford. Based on what I've seen and read, I'd probably take Tunney by a decision.
1) I talked to Kevin Smith about this, and it is a bit of a hoax. Tunney wanted to fight a 37 year old far past his prime Wills, INSTEAD of a younger prime George Godfrey. He essentially wanted the easy route. He knew by that time, Wills was old, much slower, and ripe for the picking. 2) Why should Wills have to fight Tunney? Wills had been the # 1 contender for 7 straight years! He should get a direct shot at Dempsey. He shouldn't have to prove himself anymore.
Wills was more highly regarded than Godfrey at that point though and was still feared by most white heavyweights. Tunney's challenge was not a hoax, he was fully prepared to face Wills. I'm not saying he should have either, but Tunney was willing to fight him. Dempsey wasn't but that's Dempsey's fault, not Tunney's. Tunney wanted to get past Wills in order to get a title shot.
I'm going with Sam in this one. I think a prime Langford would take a prime Tunney off his how-to-beat-Langford game plan, and impose his will on Gene.