Just studied Sam Langford and Jack Johnson on film..my conclusion

This post needs to be considered carefully and given the due weight it deserves ,because the author of it has written a very well received book on one of the protagonists involved here.

 

"You say Langford 140-156lb, but isn't it a fact Langford was 156lb and not 140lb? That's a big difference."

I wouldn't be surprised if Langford really did weigh 156 for the fight, but I don't know if we can say that's a fact for sure. The Police Gazette reported him as weighing 156 for the fight and Johnson outweighing him by about 30 pouncs. But, the Boston Herald reported that Langford was nearly 40 pounds lighter. In his book 'Mes Combats' Johnson writes that he weighed 190 pounds and Langford only 138. So, I'm not sure. The only thing I'm confident in saying is that Langford was under the middleweight limit at the time and I think there's a very big difference in the punch that a middleweight carries than one that a legitimate light-heavyweight as Langford later grew into does.

"Also Johnson had a 29lb advantage on Langford, Jeffries often had 35-50lb weight advantages on his best opponents. Does this take away from Jeffries victories? "

I'd say it depends on the weights of the men that Jeffries was fighting against, I doubt any of them were middleweights. I tend to agree with a lot of the following statement made by Billy Madden about Billy Miske at a point in Miske's life before he was diagnosed with Bright's Disease:

"Billy Madden, onetime manager of heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, piped in as well voicing his opinion Billy (Miske) was big enough to whip any professional fighter in the world.

That youngster is one of the best fighters I ever saw and I’ve seen the best in the game for the last forty-five years, and as for size and weight, Miske is big enough for all purposes. It isn’t necessary for a man to weigh more than 175 or 180 pounds in order to whip the best man in the world. These giants like Willard, Fulton and Carl Morris are too big to be first class fighters. Men of that size are naturally slow and get lost against the fast, quick-hitting men of normal size. Miske is very fast and shifty and he delivers his blows with both hands in rapid-fire fashion. He is an ideally built fighting man, and I might say the best I’ve ever seen.

Madden went on to say that he’d wager on Miske against Willard with all the confidence in the world. “John L. Sullivan, when he was at his best, weighed about 180 pounds. Jim Corbett, when he beat Sullivan at New Orleans weighed exactly 178,” said Madden, “and Jack Johnson never was as formidable as when he weighed 185 pounds.”

I think men like Marciano and Langford proved that 185 pounders are perfectly capable of knocking out heavyweights 30-40 pounds heavier than themselves. But, I don't think you find middleweights doing the same thing, or at least anywhere near as often.

 

I somtimes think that people under estimate the rapidity of Johnsons decline after the Jeffries fight. It was arguably more abrupt than Mike Tysons decline after he went to prison. It is well documented that Johnson suffered some sort of mental or nervous breakdown due to the violence that resulted from his fight with Jeffries.

I also think that Johnson might well have retired had he not been arested under the mann act (how ironic is that?). It is also possible that said arrest cheated us out of a title fight between Johnson and Langford. The big money offers for such a match started arriving at this time.

 

Langford is a dangerous puncher but Johnson seems to have a good style for him. I don't see any controversy with that statement.

 

"Off topic, How do you think Peter Jackson would have done vs John L Sullivan, Jim Jeffries(prime)? Do you think he was better than Corbett?"

Boy I don't know prime vs. prime but if we're talking Jackson vs. Sullivan around the same time Jackson fought Corbett I'd take Jackson. Corbett reportedly called Jackson the greatest he ever fought, didn't he? And, I've read that Jackson sprained his ankle just prior to fighting Corbett and was somewhat limited in terms of his mobility the only time they faced one another in that 61-round draw. Corbett sure didn't seem anxious to face him again after he won the title. By all accounts, Jackson was washed up by the time he fought and lost to Jeffries but I think I might have picked Jeffries to wear him down and ultimately defeat him in a match of the two in their primes. Adam Pollack is probably a much better guy to weigh in on this one.