Watching Sam Langford against Joe Jeanette and knowing how renowned he was for being a toughie and and durable too - you know how venomous a puncher Langford was - Sam seemed to be rattling him everytime he hit him - virtually every shot had him rockin and rollin - where half of that was poor balance on Jeanette's part I don't know but he definately had trouble absorbing Sam's punches - and Langford NEVER threw soft punches EVER - there was no feeling out, no steady build up for the big shot - he just threw every shot NASTY! And Sam was very fast aswell - he got in there fast and unloaded fast with big shots no wasting time - and one interesting thing that occurred to me was how often and how easily he shoved Jeanette and also Jim Flynn back and how often, whenever things got stifled at close quarters he really pushed them back out to distance again with relative ease - just an interesting spot that's all, considering the way Foreman kept doing that with Frazier - and Flynn was a pretty tenacious maul forward guy if nothing else - and similarly with Flynn - Sam seemed to really hurt Flynn with pretty much everything he hit him with and especially his endless AND VICIOUS uppercuts - although to be fair I know Futch purposely had Frazier bobbing to attract the uppercut so he could come over it with that left hook?? But then I don't think they'd be trying to attract any punch at all from someone like Sam Langford?!! One things for sure both these guys love to fight and were absolutely fearless - both guys would relish fighting another guy who was equally as dangerous and relentless as they were - and I think because of that it would be a great fight to watch - Frazier has all the size advantage on Sam but everyone did - but Frazier never actually fought anyone like Sam - with all those attributes combined- of that size, ability, power, tenacity and speed so it's a toss up for me
Sam was dangerous with both hands, and Joe really didn't like taking on shorter opponents. Stylistically, I believe Qawi was one latter day LHW Champion who could have given both prime Frazier and prime Ali a lot of headaches, and Langford was around Dwight's height and reach. For Jeannette X, Sam was excellent with his hook on the inside, and that bout finally allowed him to completely shed his label of being a ten round fighter. He may well have had the better chin and stamina than Joe, being the tank he developed into as a HW. His stature might take body punching out of the equation for Frazier. Eddie Futch might devise the same plan for Langford he prepared for Joe to use in JQ II. Box the shorter man with his underrated jab and overlooked right, holding the hook in reserve. Smoke would still be unloading plenty of hooks regardless. Jeannette had height and reach comparable to Frazier, and did have some success in Paris on Sam from long range. Inside, Smoke would then be able to compete better than Jeannette with his hook and short right uppercut. Not committing to a winner with this post, just tossing out some observations and ideas. Langford would be the shortest quality opponent Frazier ever faced by a considerable margin, so it would be a different type of challenge for him than it would be for Sam, who earlier in his career used stick and move tactics extremely well in outboxing Barbados Joe Walcott as the taller man with the longer reach. [This is one reason why Langford is considered by many as the P4P GOAT. He got the best of ATGs throughout his career span in all kinds of ways with all kinds of tactics, whether it was through the use of early career height and reach advantages with mobility, or later career infighting. Countering, leading, or baiting traps, competing for a decision or aiming for a knockout, there seems to be nothing he didn't do well unless confronted with an extreme height and reach advantage. A Fulton, McCarty, Willard or Carl Morris are HW contemporaries of his who may have always posed extremely serious logistical issues for him at heights of 6'4" and up. Then again, Qawi did steal a few rounds from the 6'4" Foreman, so perhaps that's not an absolute certainty either.]
i thought this dream fight would get more comments. maybe one problem is we know what frazier brings to the table as far as style analysis, but langford certainly not so well due to lack of film. i would think it would be a pick em bout. i might put 5 dollars on langford but if the great frazier smoked him, obviously no one would be shocked. if langford hurt and then took out joe, here again no shocks.
Of course not. They would never have seen the world in colour before, and it would have totally confused them.
From the footage of the Jeannette fight, Langford is sloppy and wide, even if he is powerful. Something Frazier would have a field day with. Frazier crushes him.
I will say I was impressed with both Langford and Jeannette, and can see Langford giving any LHW big trouble, but not ATG heavyweights who can slip wide punches and counter them with accurate punches.
Frazier crushes him. I don't see how someone can say **** like this and expect a reasonable response: "Dwight Qawi was small and could have hung in long enough to snag some rounds from Frazier, so Langford who is a similar size yet has almost nothing else in common with Qawi would have done better because I don't know I just want Langford to win " Frazier is a different era, an all time great. He'd beat the **** out of Langford and finish him.
Langford seems to be one of those "Äce up the Sleeve" names that many use as a trump card, in the past in mythical match-ups i have seen him championed as the destroyer of Ezzard Charles, the smasher of Marciano and Liston, and the beater of Ali amongst others, of course with little explanation as to how he achieves these fabulous results, i have little doubt he was an excellent practitioner, if pitted against any middleweight or lt heavy i would have little objection to advocates of his prowess and assumed victorious results. But against destructive Predatory Heavyweights..those not content to Box, Fence, Parry spoil, negate, But those genuine drednoughts, The Louis's Marciano's Foreman and Yes Frazier then .i start to waver somewhat...What was Sam 5' 7" or 5' 8" 170lb (ish) ?? Then against Frazier, irrespective of Style employed, Sam is governed by Human Limitations, Frazier Incessant Suffocating Pressure-Hooking Frazier at 209..in these circumstances becomes a very dangerous puncher indeed, Sam may indeed be the better all-round Fighter ( But Also Debatable ) But a Roll Royce is a better ride than a Tank...but put them on a collision course... Apparent Demi-god status aside, Sam was only Human, an amazing one perhaps, but Human none the Less, and subject to the laws of Humanics ...I doubt there is much for him in this match-up but Pain and a short evening. ( No disrespect to the Old time Fans and Sam worshippers )
