Old Timers - My View

He is one of the few I wouldn't give a chance to.

I definitely think Langford would be competitive at Light-Heavy nowadays.

I don't think anyone up to Corbett would do too much.

Jack Johnson I'm not sure about. Footage of him just doesn't impress me to be honest.

 

Jack Johnson mostly fought from the clinch but I think he displayed some good boxing ability in his performance against Fireman Flynn. I understand that Flynn wasn't one of the greatest boxers but Johnson was jabbing him to bits. I guess the one thing you could say about Flynn is that he had his hands up at all times which wasn't ordinary for his day...

From the clinch he could throw punishing uppercuts and combinations but I agree that wouldn't really work under modern rules.

This film is a bit dark so you can't see all of the action very clearly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h903dv1yxb4

More highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF5NVO0WA6A
2:40

 

Two fighters from that period that I think would have adapted verry well to the modern rule set are Tommy Burns and Philadelphia Jack O'Brien.

 

Gprater,

Watch Burns vs. anyone else. Burns has some good skills. You'll be surprised.

 

Damn right.

Burns is one of the best infighters that I have seen from any era.

 

Well i suppose we're all allowed to be opinionated, but if i had to pick just one to do well today (and i hate this topic), it would actually be Johnson. I think he was outright class.

The only thing would be his size in my perception.

 

I don't like comparing todays with the likes of Johnson's era as alot of things were different in many aspects.

I consider Johnson to be the greatest defensive Heavyweight of all time. I feel Johnson was years ahead of his time stylistically, he revolutionized boxing footwork, defense, and the concept of ring generalship aswell as mastery of ring science. He also mastered the art of clinch fighting which was one of his best weapons.

Randy Robert makes some good points in his book ''Papa Jack'' “

Also conisder the fact that Nat Fleischer who saw Johnson fight and those up to the Ali era, said, in his book Black Dynamite “Jack Johnson boxed on his toes, could block from most any angle, was lightning fast on his feet, could feint an opponent into knots…he possessed everything a champion could hope for punch, speed, brains, cleverness, boxing ability and sharp-shooting.”

Fleischer also reported in 1958, that Johnson’s “mastery of ring science, his ability to block, counter, and feint, are still unexcelled.”

 

what an amazing first post, welcome to the forum:good

 

Thanks Mate :good

 

Johnson clinched too much for my liking, but so did Muhammad Ali. But Johnson fought when he was clinching, letting go to fire in uppercuts and body punches.
He was a master at containing an opponent, blocking, smothering an attack, stopping an opponent in his tracks with defensive guile, physical strength and a jolting punch or two.
And Johnson was a big, fit, strong, well-conditioned 208 pounds of sculpted muscle in his prime.
He was a clever, confident, relaxed fighter and whatever gulf in stylistic conventions exists between his day and ours he's probably the kind of fighter who'd adjust to anything within a minute of the opening bell. A natural.

 

I agree with St_Boxing and others who say Johnson could do well.

I think with his defensive ability he could do fine in any era...He just was an excellent natural fighter.

I gotta say though, if guys like Mayorga and Virchis, can go alright in this age, then a lot of the best from the early days of boxing would do surprisingly well on their physical ability and toughness alone.