Langford vs. Baer

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Melankomas, Jul 23, 2024.


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  1. bolo specialist

    bolo specialist Boxing Addict Full Member

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    He was already into his 30s by the time of their 1st fight (& he certainly wasn't a "young" 30) & most of the drubbings came as he got progressively older.
     
    bolo specialist, Jul 23, 2024
    bolo specialist, Jul 23, 2024
    #16
    Dorrian_Grey likes this.
  2. Dorrian_Grey

    Dorrian_Grey It came to me in a dream Full Member

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    That doesn't explain why Langford was KOed by Young Peter Jackson or Jennette though, in what was his physical prime and before most of the wear and tear he accrued later on. I think the chin to power ration greatly favours Baer here and I think Baer was as good if not better than the men Langford beat at HW. We barely have any footage of McVey and what we do have of him against Jim Johnson isn't that impressive especially compared to what Baer displayed. What we have of Wills shows a guy with porous defence and clumsy footwork. Baer is no paradigm of excellent technique mind you, but his footwork alone is leaps and bounds far more refined than Wills or McVey's was.
     
    Dorrian_Grey, Jul 23, 2024
    Dorrian_Grey, Jul 23, 2024
    #17
  3. Melankomas

    Melankomas Prime Jeffries would demolish a grizzly in 2 Full Member

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    He wasn't KO'd by Jackson and Jeannette in his prime. The 19-20 year old Langford of 1905-06 was not the same Langford from 1909-13. It's apparent by the fact that neither man got even remotely close to knocking Sam out again, instead becoming the punching bags themselves. He took bombs from much, much harder punchers than those two.
    What Baer displays in all of his fights is about as unimpressive as what McVea displays imo, both look trash. However what I was referring to with regard to McVea, Fulton and Wills is raw power. We know those men can hit plenty and on top of that we know they actually landed on Sam from time-to-time, and he overcame them regardless when he was near his peak.
    The only footage we have of Wills is old-man Wills, and I think he looks MUCH better than any Baer clip I've seen. Not much foot movement from the geezer, but he's a more technically efficient infighter, rolls with punches and moves his head more than Baer, faster hands, and overall shows more intellect and patience than I've ever seen from Baer;

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    I can't see the case for Baer's footwork being 'leaps and bounds' above what Sam was used to at heavyweight, in fact Baer's footwork is very sloppy by the standards of any era. He very often slips and stumbles when throwing punches, lifts his rear leg when throwing his rights, squares up often out of stance, and on top of this makes about every fundamental mistake in the book.
     
    Melankomas, Jul 23, 2024
    Melankomas, Jul 23, 2024
    #18
    Greg Price99 likes this.
  4. Boxing GOAT

    Boxing GOAT Active Member Full Member

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    Langford at his best finds a way to overcome the size difference. Scrappy fight that I would favor Sam for the win.
     
    Boxing GOAT, Jul 23, 2024
    Boxing GOAT, Jul 23, 2024
    #19
  5. HistoryZero26

    HistoryZero26 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Even at HW he beat Lang at 166 giving almost 40 pounds. But at that weight he was beating Lang up a few rounds opposed to making his power felt. To be lethal at HW he needed more.

    Given how long it took him to KO Wills at 190, I think even 190 and 200/206 presented a noticeable difference in Langfords power at HW. Langford didn't need to be that heavy to be lethal for most everyone in his time period(except Fulton or maybe Willard and Coffey) but against a Max Baer he would. The issue here is with someone like Max I don't think he can win either way.


    In terms of Max's best weight I think it was 205-210 maybe. 200 he was losing decisions to Loughran, Uzcudin, Risko and Schaaf. Of these the lightest was Loughran who was 183 and won 7-3. Could Langford win a 10 point decision over Max at 183? Langford can hit harder than that group but they are all at least 3 inches taller than him. Thing is Loughran, Uzcudin, Schaaf and Risko all had great chins. Schaaf died but his final fight was the only time he was stopped, the others were stopped 1,2 and 3 times. Uzcudin beat Max over 20 rounds his chin was durasteel.
     
    HistoryZero26, Jul 23, 2024
    HistoryZero26, Jul 23, 2024
    #20
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