on Boxrec it says he fought for the world middle weight crown in 1907 is this correct as i didnt think he did fight for a world title but it was in Britain so it might have been for the British version
The only world title fight he had was against Barbados Joe Walcott aged 18. Many thought that he won.
He fought Walcott in 1904. There weren't proper commissions in the early 1900s that said clearly "This is a title fight" and "This isn't" and "This guy is the champion," so consequently there are often conflicting reports on what was considered a title fight and who was the recognized champion. Having said that, that listing on Langford's record is bizarre. I have no idea who "James Tiger Smith" is or how that came to be regarded as a title fight. However, I do know the middleweight title was considered vacant and split at around that time, and there were a number of title claimants running around claiming to be the champion and defending their share of the title, until Stanley Ketchel finally received general recognition as champion.
I thought Langford's fight with Gans was originally to be for the title? I understood that the reason the title did not change hands was because Sam hadn't made weight.
