Sam Langford vs Rocky Marciano

Despite Klompton's doubts I have seen excerpts of the Hague fight , unfortunately not the kd of Langford. If I had it now I would post it for all.

 

" He couldn't miss me with his jabs I just had to take them".Marciano.

Louis did not have his right hand for the Marciano fight, he shook him a couple of times with left hooks , but his reflexes were gone.

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I am sure having seen your previous contributions, we will all give your response the credibility it deserves.

 

It is entirely plausible that Langford could have taken Marciano.

 

Great poster McVey - ref the Marciano quote I suspect Marciano wanted to say some good things about Joe because he loved the guy - all I need to do is watch the films to know with my own eyes that Louis barely registered at all on Marciano though - ps gutted you don't have The Hague fight - what was your impression of the bits you saw?

 

My impression is probably influenced by what I've read of the fight since.

Excerpts of the first two rounds and the ko in the 4th . Why on earth the knockdown of Langford is not on the super 8mm film Ie no idea
Langford walks his way around Hague who is a stocky block of a fighter.Hague looks very crude and fleshy,but he absorbs punches quite well before Langford lowers the boom in the 4th round with a right cross that catches Hague flush and ko's him ,and I mean kos him, he is out senseless.
Langford's knockdown happened in the 3rd round but I haven't seen it apparently he walked into Hague's patented right swing and was bowled over.
Hague is said to have gone right hand mad then ,while Langford covered up , concentrating on riding out the storm. Class asserted itself in the 4th and final round, from memory and bearing in mind it is only 4 rds, It looked like Secretariat running against a donkey.

 

This should really have a poll due to the genuine debate it's generated on both sides.

 

Every so often I need to humbley take a step back and go over my notes. For some reason I'd recently come to the belief that Langford didnt do that much until 1912 and wasn't anything special until a fully fledged hw.

However looking at his record again, between 1907-1914 he fought a who's who bar Johnson (who he probably would have lost to) whilst weighing 175-200 depending on the opponent and distance. In this time he only truly lost to mcvey and Clark who he knocked out during the same time. He had disputed losses to Flynn and smith but due to conflicting reports i probably call them a draw for analysis purposes.

If I'm to say his prime probably ended with the Clark rematch (he had previously destroyed Clark and went on to be very inconsistent from then on). It could be argued the only man to beat a peak version of him was McVey a man who he did prove superiority over.

I can't believe I'm gonna say this but i think I'd actually started to underrate Langford.

I need to rethink my standing of this man!

 

To be honest, either man winning is plausible .

 

Cheers for that McVey - what was the right hand that Langford finished it with like? - could you compare it with any other ones you've seen in terms of power and effect etc just as a guage?

 

Rewatched all the footage I can find of Sam.

It seems the main weapons against him was clinches by the bigger men, Sam seemd to hand himself surprisingly well in these situations being able to match for strength and be the quicker puncher on the inside (Obviously these are two advantages Johnson would still have held at any point in his career). When at mid range Sam had a great arsenal of shots and impeccable timing.

I know he twice quit on his stool as a youngster but during his prime years he never really came close to being stopped. Him vs Rocky would have to be a shootout I think.

Langford probably hit just as hard and quicker with better accuracy but would he have the firepower to finish Rocky off? I'm sure he could hurt Rocky but finishing him is another matter. Same with the roll reversal Rocky I'm sure Rocky could hurt Sam but would he finish him? Or even hit him often enough to warrant a finish?

I've rendered my prior opinion on this fight moot as I need to mull it over some more.

I'm elevating Sam into my elite cruiser category alongside Tunney, Rocky, Dempsey and Holy.

Difficult to pick between these guys.

 

I honestly wouldn't bet a second hand wheelbarrow against Langford beating anybody.

Thats how dangerous he was.

 

In the CW division I think I agree Janitor.

drained to lhw might change things, in against bigger hw's might change that also.