Tommy Burns Raw Deal ...

He is undersold a tad.

He was effectively a two division champion, and he beat a very live opponent to win the title in Marvin Hat.

 

If Burns had claimed the light heavyweight tile after he beat O'brien, I doubt that anybody would have questioned it.

 

Nobody would have questioned it but very few people would have cared. The LHW title was so much in its infancy that barely existed. It would be another decade at least before the phrase even became common place.

 

Nobody would have cared at the time, but it might have benefited his standing today.

 

Getting your nuts cut off in the process by a big golden smiling motherf*cker who is basically laughing at everything your throwing at him doesn't help matters much. He was no pu55y that's for sure.

 

A tough, brave, infighter, who had good footwork, shifty moves and was a great judge of distance , a cagey box fighter who possessed a fight ending right hand.
He just met a man who could do all that he could, and was,
not only better at it,but significantly bigger.

 

A stylistic example of how wanting the division was in those days.

 

Taken fro Wiki

In December 1908, Burns became the first fighter to agree to a heavyweight championship bout with an African American boxer, Jack Johnson, to whom he lost his title in a match held in Sydney. He refused to fight Johnson until Australian promoter Hugh D. McIntosh paid him $30,000 for the fight (Johnson only received $5,000).[3] He was rumoured to be suffering from the effects from jaundice or influenza, and weighed in at just 168 pounds (76 kg)—15 pounds (6.8 kg) lighter than his previous fight, and well below Johnson's 192 pounds (87 kg). The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police. Referee Hugh McIntosh awarded the decision and the title to Johnson. In a filmed interview, Burns named Johnson as the second best boxer up to his time, after James J. Jeffries.

>>>Burns gave Johnson credit on film. It anything history ingores he was at a low weight for the Johnson fight. Johnson said Burns was the easiest man he fought. Bruns was a short man who did not beat anyone decent outside of Hart and O'Brien. I'm not sure why Hart was MIA vs Burns. After Burns lost to Johnson, he was rather inactive.

Losses to O'Brien, Schreck and J T. Sullivan combined with numerous draws drag down his legacy. Outside of Jimmy Braddock, and Marvin Hart, Im not sure if I would pick him against any lineal champion. I do think he was game though, and had some skills and power.

 

While i dislike the phrase 'blown up x weight' i think this is a lot of the reason. Langford(for example) gets credit for being a smaller guy who was succesfull moving to hw, while burns was just a small hw. Matched up against men his own size from later eras he wins more or less as often as not, matched against later hw's he is always at a disadvantage.

 

Burns was 2 pounds inside the middleweight limit when he lost to O Brien ,that was 4 years before he faced Johnson. Burns was always inclined to plumpness ,he said he trainded harder for Johnson than for any other fight ,that would account for his weight,he was also around 170lbs for several fights.
Burns daily public workouts impressed the sports writers tremendously

Q . Have you ever seen it stated, suggested, averred to by BURNS that he went into the Johnson fight with JAUNDICE? Either immediately after the fight, or during the 55 years that he lived afterwards?

A.NO!
So stop with the lies.
Burns went into print the week after the fight ,stating he had been in top shape and that he had badly underestimated both Johnson's skill and strength.
Your bull**** belongs with the other lies you have told about this fight.
1.Johnson fouled Burns by hitting on the break. UNTRUE they agreed to look after themselves in the clinches and breaks.
2 Burns broke Johnson's ribs. UNTRUE Johnson went for a swim after the fight then on to a party. MENDACIOUS MENDOZA
The pathological liar.