Jack Johnson's thoughts on Louis vs. Conn. He makes fun of Louis' stance

Maybe Louis should've maken fun of Johnson's constant holding, limited and sporadic offence and midget-bashing.

 

Johnson had a whole heap of pride, mixed with jealously of Louis. You get the sense that Johnson wanted to fight Louis, although at age 68 that would be impossible. But you can tell that Johnson thinks that if he was in his prime that he could take Louis.

 

1. Johnson is right in his technical criticisms of Louis and Dempsey's style

2. The paper claims he had 250 fights

 

Johnson's style was perfect....for the times he fought in. I have a hard time seeing any heavyweight fighter going far in the modern era using that fencer's stance that Johnsosn employed while he was fighting. That style is good for the one shot at a time offense that was prevalent during Johnson's era but would be problematic in later eras where more combination punching, faster paced and less holding boxing became the norm. It might be hard to reach a fighter in that stance but it would be as hard for that fighter to reach his opponent as well...especially if that opponent is taller with a longer reach and mobile ( Mmm..I wonder who fits that style of fighter...Can anybody guess?). A lot of Johnson's criticism of Louis strikes me as sour grapes. He has some legit points but most of it seems to be based on his being jealous of Louis' popularity. Let's be honest...since Johnson how many other HW champs adopted his style of fighting? Right and there's a reason for that. The game changed. Rules, equipment, duration of fights and fan interest and expectations....and of course money. The way Jack fought was perfectly suited for his era. It wouldn't be in future eras.

 

Stance has always been the biggest point of contention among fighters of the previous generation criticising the current crop.

Larry Folley said something similar about Jack Johnson.

 

I like what John L. Sullivan said, which is that each coach will tell you to stand in a certain way and hold your hands in a certain way. He said it was all bosh, that a fighter should do what works for him.

 

as true then as now.

 

indeed. However, isnt it also possible that a combination puncher can be made reluctant to lead first? that the fencer can feint the faster paced fighter into a trap? styles evolve and equipment changes but some of that fencing and its pace has come back into heavyweight boxing with an albeit different stance. the klitchsco brothers stand off and fence - often using the weighted "back drop" johnson is taliking about. They slow a fighther down and stop them working like old jack did.

 

Good point Choklab...and true, though it would take a certain type of fighter to pull that style of fighting off today. The klitchsco brothers have the height and reach to do it but a smaller HW would need exceptional reflexes and vision to ward off blows from a bigger and equally fast opponent the way Johnson did. It would probably be easier for the average smallish HW to make himself even smaller and slip and counter or bob and weave his way inside rather than try to adopt Johnson's style of fighting. For the record I don't think Jack's style was primitive, just problematic in todays boxing world. I do think that if Jack Johnson was time machined into todays HW division he would be a royal pain in the ass for todays heavies due to his mastery of that style. Now that I think of it, he'd be a royal pain in the ass in any era for that matter.

 

:good exactly, a pain in the ass is a pain in the ass whatever the era.

 

John Conteh used Johnsons stance for much of his career and it worked well since John almost always sat back and countered, but as with Jack if they tried to move quickly forward it was ackward. If you look at films of Jack when he did this it partially works but also looks like his legs are going to cross, its the downside of the stance. I worked on this stance for years and there are a lot of good boxers it will not let one win against, for Johnson later on he would have lost decisions with it also. Joes stance was made to order for quick, perfectly thrown combinations of every punch in the book, something Jack could never do from the weight on the back foot setting.