Clinch for 2:40 a round and occasionally pull an arm free and throw a roundhouse uppercut or a rabbit punch over the top. Chuck Wepner usually exhibited more skill than Sam Langford does on film, if we're being honest.
The old guy certainly fought at a different pace but remember two points: they fought a lot....A LOT....like 3 or 4 times a month for many years. Also, some bouts were longer...20-25 rounds. Surely we need to accept these facts and not expect them to be very active during the fights. Therefore lots of clinching, wrestling around, with sporadic bursts of punching action.
Apart from all the footage we have of just that. Flynn and Langford weren't doing a lot of jabbing there, but neither were Chisora and Takam at the weekend.
How much boxing finesse do you expect to be able to see in a slideshow? Not to mention gloves and rule enforcement that allow much more clinching and much more to be done in the clinch. A lot of the stuff they did in the clinch just couldn't be done anymore just because of the way modern gloves are, and the refs wouldn't allow it, but it was very effective.
I’m not a big pound for pound guy as the definition can vary. What makes a fighter great isn’t always considered to be " pound for pound " criteria.. The stamina to go many rounds at a fast pace, the ability to take a punch, heart, and Ring IQ, are typically not viewed as " pound for pound " , but they are all important variables in defining ring greatness. Langford rates highly in these departments. I will say this. Langford had an amazing career, and was capable of winning titles from Jr Welter to heavyweight. ( he did win minor heavyweight belts ). Who else in ring history could say this? The best Langford films are vs Jeannette and Lang. Here Sam is an excellent stalker, capable of engaging at long range or up close with accurate powerful punches. Sam was incredibly hard to stop with a battle tested chin of the who’s who of his time, and had the stamina to fight all night. Very strong, and compact, with unusually long arms for his size. Defense from a distance was not his thing.
Garcia is my favourite current fighter watched his fight with Robert Easter Jnr this morning,he doesn't bore me! But everyone is different.
Again, I don't get people who says Langford looks bad in the footage we have. He completely dominated all of his opponents on the tape and all of them were bigger than him. His punching power and technique is undeniable. He showed some nice little skills on defense like crossarm defense and subtle head movement.
I think he is overrated, but I have him in my top 40 of Heavyweight. He appeared clumpsy and crude in his skills; I rate him between Spinks, Stribling and Tucker.
Not Fury of course. But I wouldn't call Jones, Mayweather, Rigondeaux, Maske, Robinson, Mosley, Gomez, Nunn, Clay, Tyson, Holmes, Casamayor or Louis clumpsy among others.
The underlined is just supposition unsupported by any facts. Many of the older sports writers ,such as Charley Rose saw Langford fight, he rated him number one. Langford beat lots of opponents considered excellent boxers men such as; Jack Blackburn Joe Gans Young Peter Jackson Jeff Clark Joe Jeannette Dixie Kid Jack O Brien Tiger Flowers Personally I love watching Garcia fight,though he bit off a bit too much taking on Spence,Loma would have been a better bet.
