Who Thinks Jack Johnson Could Step Out Of A Time Machine And Fight For A Belt?

Jack Johnson could probably come out of a time machine in his prime and beat every heavyweight today. The only era where I see him running into a bit of trouble is the 1970's, with Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Shavers and Holmes. He'd out box Ali, Holmes, Foreman and Shavers, but might have a bit of trouble handling the pressure of Frazier and Norton. Tyson would almost qualify as the same type of threat Frazier was, but he didn't have nowhere near the endurance of Frazier. Marciano would provide a tough challenge as well but he wasn't fast enough and wouldn't have enough pressure to sustain a significant attack. As for Joe Louis, Johnson already knew his weakness well before Schmeling did and would probably knock Louis out late or win a close decision. Everyone knows Dempsey chickened out of a fight with an aging Johnson, which is the black mark on his title reign.

IMO, Jack Johnson was the smartest and the best defensive heavyweight of all time and he could attack with ferocity as well. He fought in an era when endurance was the key to winning fights, going 15 rounds or more constantly.

 

Ha!

You know there is a writer's strike in the US. They could use some good comedy talent.

 

He had good power - though it obviously looked better because he outweighed most of his opponents by 20-30 pounds. But he's not even close to being the class of Louis when it comes to power.


And the fact that a contemporary writer thought so is just another piece in the endless string of evidence of how incredibly uninformed the people who wrote about him were. They didn't have the ring records, films and a perspective on modern gloved boxing that we have.

 

Because the contention that Jack Johnson, with what are by today's standards neaderthal skills and limited physical tools, could dent the heavyweight scene does not even merit a well-thought response.

Don't get me wrong, Johnson was a great old-timey fighter who looked like a genius of technique with his slapping blocks and rolling fists. For his time, he was a great innovator and technician.

However, even against the largely undersized barroom brawlers of his day, he had his share of trouble. I could recite the list of questionable performances which riddled his record, but I'm a bit wearied of the excuses constantly floated by his worshippers. He really gets an unheard of leway for bad performances (Chonyski, Hart, Ketchell, Johnson... et. al.). I will guarantee you one thing were Johnson here today, he would be scrutinized correctly for once. I certainly don't think Lennox Lewis would have been allowed to feast on Jeff Harding and Julian Jackson during his reign.

About 90% of the threads on this board seem to devolve into the same shrill arguments between those who believe the fighters of yesteryear (and the more yester the better) were Bunyan-esque supermen and those who roundly discount their every, grainy effort on stilted celluloid. While I believe the truth lies somewhere in between, I really don't need to hear rabble which argues the contradistinction.