Gene Tunney vs Sam Langford at LHW/HW

A faded Dempsey is no match for a prime Langford at his concensus best weight.

 

Tunney was almost taken out by a faded Dempsey ... if you watch what exists of their fights, while Tunney wins most rounds, many are pretty competitive with Dempsey missing by fractions of inches at times ... I cannot be sure that a prime Langford, lightning fast and murderous punching does not land and crunch Tunney ...no doubt Tunney could outbox him , the question is for how long ...?

 

"Tunney's challenge was not a hoax, he was fully prepared to face Wills."

How do we know this?

As far as I can see, all these challenges came after Wills made it clear he wanted Dempsey and Dempsey only.

I believe one of the first things Tunney did after beating Dempsey, within a few days, was to announce that he was drawing the color line.

 

Perhaps the distance of the fight would be crucial to picking the winner, I went for Tunney, but wouldn't be surprised if Sam caught up with him at some stage.

 

Tunney may have avoided Godfrey ,but he did indicate ,via his manager Billy Gibson that he was prepared to face Wills ,the winner to meet Dempsey.
Personally I think Tunney would have beaten the fading Wills, and ,also the somewhat slower Godfrey,the man that Tunney missed out on, by accident ,or design ,was white. Jack Sharkey.Sharkey was allways liable to lose a fight he should have won ,and thereby screw up his title chances ,but on his best night ,I think he gives Tunney problems.
Coincidentally, Sharkey beat both Wills and Godfrey.

 

I'm not sure if Wills ever made it clear that he only wanted Dempsey. He was certainly still fighting but against B-level opposition. Tunney, thinking he had to get past Wills in order to get a title shot, called Wills out.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6JsKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mkwDAAAAIBAJ&dq=gene%20tunney%20harry%20wills&pg=6828%2C1885133

I don't know about Tunney stating he drew the colour line but he did say that he didn't care to give Wills a title shot considering that Wills had turned down an offer to fight him previously. With Wills soon losing to Jack Sharkey, the fight wouldn't have made sense anyway.

 

Dempsey may have been faded but he still a good fighter. I think Langford is a bit of a myth as a heavyweight, the records show he took out many big men but also lost to them. You may bring up Tunney being down against Dempsey, I could bring up many cases of Langford being down and even knocked out.

Based on the film I've seen, Langford is an adept pressure fighter but not as relentless as Dempsey. Dempsey was also 6'1 while Langford was 5'6, which made it easier for Dempsey to reach Tunney (and even then he had trouble doing so). Langford surely could catch up to Tunney, he cut off the ring well and hit like a ton of bricks, but I feel there's a bigger chance of him not being able to against Tunney's fast feet and ringsmarts.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRRYS9Rh7Bk[/ame]


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4:50

 

I just ran into an interesting article on this topic, but I think this topic is off this thread so I will start a new thread to post excerpts from the article.

 

Tunney looks absolutely great. He looks better on film than any old time heavyweight prior to Louis in my judgement. As a p4p fighter, he would be tough for anyone.

I have a question--who was the first man Tunney was fighting? I recognized Carpentier, Gibbons, Dempsey, and Heeney.

 

Ted Jamieson from 1919.

 

thank you

 

Better than Dempsey, Sharkey, Schmeling, Johnson?

 

In my opinion, for sure, Johnson and Dempsey look better on film.

 

Who are the five best fighters Tunney ever fought ?

Who are the five best heavyweights Tunney ever fought ?

How many fights at heavyweight did Tunney fight ?

When you compare their resumes, it is not really a contest in my opinon ...

 

In my judgement, and perhaps in Ali's. I am judging on p4p, just as a boxer, not trying to figure out who was the best heavyweight. I see Tunney as a great lightheavyweight.

1. Johnson--Johnson is so much bigger than most of the men he fights on film except for the giants Jeffries and Willard, and the Jeff of 1910 and Willard are very limited. I think p4p Tunney shows more.

2. Dempsey--well, who looked better when they fought each other? Who looked better against Gibbons? I don't know how Tunney would have done against bigger men, but I think he was a better fighter against men about his own size.

3. Sharkey--I am just more impressed with Tunney, period.

4. Schmeling--ditto.