Muhammad ali -vs-jack jhonson!

I think that's a fair summary. Win or loose, anyone Langford hit, they either remembered it the rest of their lives, or else they didn't remember it at all. ;-)

Keep in mind too that the two times Wills lost to Langford, Harry was dishing out woopings till Sam caught him.

 

Indeed.

I think that you could definitely had pick a date that would give a prety high liklihood of a Langford win.

 

Joe Woodman ,Langford's manager admitted in print [The Ring, ] that he lied about Langford knocking Johnson down to create interest in a return,there was no such interest as it was too one sided.
Johnson was reluctant to rematch Langford because, though he himself undoubtedly had grown stronger and improved ,so had Langford ,and there was probably more scope for improvement in Sam than Jack.
I say this because while Langford had engaged in more fights than Johnson when they met, his physical developement was probably behind Johnson's at that time.Johnson was a skinny 185 pounder, Langford a stubby 156 pounder, both were 20lbs south of their best weights.
Also Johnson could reap good purses fighting the white hopes of the time ,which offered him considerably more money in purses ,whil at the same time exposing him to drastically less risk .
Johnson was never in top shape again ,after stopping Jeffries in 1910,it was easier to bluff and loaf through a contest with a challenger of the right complexion , in a fight in which only fair condition would suffice , and get suitably compensated ,than knuckle down to get into top shape, which he would undoubtedly have to be in to turn back Langford's challenge.
Prime for prime, I pick Johnson but he would havre to be at his absolute best ,and, factoring in Langford's power ,anyone who arbitrarily discounted his chance of a victory would have to be insane.#
I have rambled a bit ,but I think you will get the gist of it.

 

Yea I think Johnson didn't have a rematch with Langford, simply because it was the toughest possible match-up at the time, while probably not being the top 10 most lucrative fights

Some say it was extremely selfish and wrong of Johnson to not give any black fighters a shot for the title. It was a very different time period though. And people have to remember that. First of all to be black, and be making the kind of money Johnson was making at that time, was extremely rare.

Second, you have to consider the financial issues he brings up. Maybe some of you guys have some facts about some offers for a fight that were not bad at all, but you have to look past just the fight purse. White society had just lost their greatest athletic title to a black man. It changed the entire outlook on the sport, and the title. Now imagine what it would be like for white society to suddenly find themselves witnessing TWO black men fighting for the world title! The racist society at the time would think they have completely lost the sport. No? They would go from all the white champions, to all of a sudden multiple black fighters, fighting for the supremacy of "The Strongest Man in the World". This is at a time where blacks were considered inferior, and it was accepted as FACT. Maybe they can handle one special case (Johnson), but any more than that, in their minds, might have meant that the white race is inferior.


I doubt that if the fight had been negotiated, that it would even go down. I dont believe the powers that be would allow it, especially not in America. Only two things would come from it in America, anger, and retaliation. Which was the home of Johnson and his family.


Third, think of Jack Johnson as a man. Maybe he wanted to just stick it to the world, and to white society, by wooping all of their contenders one by one. Your scientist say I'm inferior? Then line up all your boys, and we'll see. Boxing in those days was very political, and culturally tied in America, as it had remained til recently. Why would Johnson fight Langford now? To prove what? To some hardcore boxing fans and historians that he beat Langford again? He already beat Langford, and all the other black contenders of his time while he was climbing the ladder. So why now? For whome?

Fourth, none of us know what they truly thought of each other at the time. Imagine they despised each other. Johnson giving Langford a shot would be like Johnson handing over his careers long worth of hard work over to Langford. Which goes to my next and last point:

Why did Langford not have the belt first? Was Johnson handed the belt? Langford followed Johnson around, but did he follow a white champion around before the color barrier had even been broken? Maybe he realized it would have been a good idea, after seeing it worked with Johnson. But he didn't do it, Johnson did it. Johnson also challenged Jim Jeffries, the current champ, to a match when he was 25 years old. Character goes a long way in life. And Johnson had the right character at the right time.

Having said all of this, would any of you fight Sam Langford if you were in Johnson's shoes?


PS: If there were a public outcry for Johnson to fight Langford, why wouldn't he?

 

Ali would demolish Johnson. Stoppage within 8.

 

This would be somewhat like the Kent Green vs Cassius Clay fight from 1958.

Jack Johnson would drive heavy right hand bombs to the weak stomach of
Muhammad Ai.
In Round 2, as Ali attempts to block a low right, Johnson shoots a blistering left to
Ali's exposed jaw, as Ali sags into the ropes, Johnson (like Kent Green) bombs a beauty of right, at the point of the chin.
Ali falls through the ropes, and is counted out, at 1:27 of Round 2.

 

I have never seen a newspaper from the time that called for Johnson to defend against Langford.
I have however, seen several that called for Jeffries to defend against Johnson,which of course ,Jeffries ignored.

 

If lil' Philly Jack O'Brien could hold Johnson to a draw, what could a 6-3, 215 lb, faster, stronger, more powerful fighter could do would be unconscionable.

 

You need to read this

http://knowledgecenter.unr.edu/digi...jeffries/documents/lifebattlesofjac00foxr.pdf

Click on the link ,then got to pages 48 and 49.