Sam Langford

That is where things get interesting. He was indeed 5' 6.5'', but that was esentialy the only flaw he had as a fighter.

He could out box the best boxers and out punch the best punchers on their own terms.

He could glide round the ring on his toes and switch styles in an instant.

He had superb ring inteligence and was a master strategist.

He was such an effective finisher, that people could not find anything to compare him to, until Joe Louis came allong.

Now I regard head to head match ups between eras as being totaly conjectural, but if you matched Langford against the weaker champions of the 30s and 50s, I would verry much expect that he was going to beat them.

 

J,what an impressive list of boxers who lauded sam Langford to the skies !
Ol Sam was an amazing fighter of his day, for sure. Was he the greatest heavyweight ? I doubt it !Was Sam in the top echelon of P4P fighters alltime?
You betcha !
For example ,Joe Williams uses hyperbole,when he says that "Joe Louis couldn't hit hard enough to make Langford mad ".Silly statement on William't
part. As one physician claimed during Joe Louis's hayday. "the human body was not created to withstand a Joe Louis attack,when Joe had you hurt ".And
I agree.
Also, Sam Langford himself said about the prime Jack Dempsey, when asked who would win the signed, [but aborted] Dempsey/Harry Wills fight. He said
"my money is on Jack, for he is the greatest heavyweight I have ever seen " !
Another quote : John Sandy Ferguson,was a tough heavyweight who fought
Jack Johnson, Joe Jeannette and Sam Langford.A tough bird he was.
Sandy Ferguson was also a sparring partner of a prime Bob Fitzimmons.
When asked by the boxing reporter who would win between Bob Fitzimmons and Sam Langford,Ferguson picked Fitz to win because of his powerful body punching.
So J, we will never truly know how Sam Langford would fare against a Dempsey, Tunney, Louis or the champions of the Ali, Liston,Tyson, Frazier era. Cheers...