Langford-Ketchel: What may have been?

It's hard to argue against Langford. They don't make them like that any more.

 

most people would assume langford beats ketchell so it wouldn't affect ketchell much to lose the title to him.

it would give langford a title, which is cool in itself, but would also have helped him in his campaign for a shot at johnson, then he could be 2 weight champ and rates high as ****. then again maybe the title would have given langford the earning potential and motivation to stay at middle and he has less hw fights and ends up lower on atg lists.

 

Hard to say really.

It's a shame he was around in a time when the LHW belt had ceased to exist and the HW champion had refused to defend against him.

I don't think he'd have been a great MW Champion at all tbh he very quickly outgrew the lower divisions.

He stayed around 180 for a few years so he was a better fit for a LHW but the division had stopped by then.

But he proved at worst he could be competitive with Gans, Walcott, Ketchel and O'Brien so had he been given the title shots he could feasibly have won the belt from LW to LHW. Being a champion would likely see him fight a bit less frequently and potentially reduce any losses to HW bouts.

He probably was the best active HW for a while when Johnson stopped fighting and maybe he'd have beaten him for a short while.

But regarding this specific match. I think he would beat Ketchel and then move up straight after to HW so one word title wouldn't make him more of a legend than he already is.

Dethroning Gans, Walcott, Ketchel and O'Brien would be a wholly different story.

 

Like the "proverbial elephant in the room" it puzzles me to wonder why when the question of the results of the Ketchel vs.
Langford 6 round bout in 1910 is discussed virtually no one on ESB never brings up this pertinent fact : Sam Langford was about 12-14 pounds HEAVIER than the MW Ketchel was and it is a testament to Ketchel's ability and ruggedness that Stanley held his own with the powerful lightheavyweight Sam Langford...
P.S. Ketchel was said to be at this late stage of his career hooked on opium and other vices so much so that his friend Col. ****inson invited Ketchel to his ranch in Conway, Miss. to try to dry out and recuperate. As fate would have it Ketchel was shot and killed by Walter Dipley, just about 6 months after his 6 round bout with the great LH Sam Langford [let it be known]...
P.P.S. Today Ketchel is not regarded too favorably on ESB, because of just 2 films of him in existence. One was his last bout with Billy Papke where he won a lackluster 20 round bout , and the other film with his ill-fated bout with the 35-40 pound heavier heavyweight Champ Jack Johnson. Tell me what MW
would look "good" against the powerful Jack Johnson ?
Too bad there are no films showing Ketchel flattening his 49 victims in existence today...Too bad...

 

Both Ketchel and Langford were top ATG fighters. Langford probably the higher skills. Ketchel the seek and destroy puncher.

It's an interesting postulation. Would Langford be as highly thought of if he won the middleweight title and stayed in that weight class? It would depend on how long and how distinguished his title rein would have been.

 

I think because the general feeling is that Langford carried him to set up a huge title shot that never happened ..

 

Langford KO.

 

Whether or not Langford "carried" Ketchel is one thing. My question is why no one brings up the fact that Sam Langford outweighed Stanley by about 12 pounds in 1910 and was pure and simply a lightheavyweight by this time ?
If a Marvin Hagler fought a Michael Spinks or an Archie Moore
wouldn't that be a factor discussed years later by unbiased posters ? I think so, and at least you HE addressed the issue ...

 

So J, the fact that Langford a true lightheavyweight against Ketchel outweighing Stanley by about 12 pounds, would have "swayed" opinions tells me a lot about some posters who omit valid information to buttress the outcome they want. Yipes.atsch

 

that's true.

but langford weighed in at close to 160 a couple of times after they fought so i think he could have made weight for a couple of title fights and if he did win having the title for a while could change langford's career a lot.