What can I say, it is like comparing two fine wines. Whether you like Langford's trap setting, or Liston's methodical attack, might be a matter of personal preference. The important point is not who was better, the important point is that they are both in the same select group, of greatest heavyweight finishers of all time. A group numbered in single figures.
Why Which hall of fame heavyweight in his prime did Langford knock out in 1 round that had the ability of a floyd Patterson? Williams Folley Valdes Dejohn harris bethea all blasted out early. What early knockouts over top rated oppositiom in the heavy divisions does Langford have to match this resume?
Because I think he was a better finisher. That one punch KO of Wills man...in the nineteenth round...past his prime...crazy, absurd. And the 14th round KO of Wills after injuring his ankle! Liston was an elite finisher, but Sam is ahead IMO.
That took a lot of rounds against a green Harry Wills. Liston only needed 2 rounds in 2 fights against a hall of fame prime ATG heavyweight champion who was never down for the 10 count in his 17 year career
Yeah, if you're more impressed of knockouts of Patterson than Wills, I can see what you might disagree. Of course Langfrod also stopped McVey, and about 120 other guys. Langford is my answer.
I think wills and patterson are close in legacy. The difference here is liston did the job In only 1 round twice, while Langford took 14 and 19 rounds. Furthermore I think patterson was closer to his prime in 1962-63 than wills was in 1914-1916 McVea yes. Impressive. Have you seen film of him? Do you think he looks better on film than zora Folley Cleveland Williams? How many rounds did he take to finish McVea? Langford appeared to be a slow starter but maintainec his power late
I think McVea was extremely hard to knock out. I think this is born out by his career. I think he was harder to KO than the men you mention. If your point is that boxing has moved on, and modern fighters look better, ok, but Langford is still using ye olde techniques and yet he still has all these KO and stoppages. So I would still say Liston. Also, the language the guys who fought Langford use are even more extreme than those who fought Liston. Wills said that every other punch he ever absorbed was like a slap from a woman compared to Langford's punches. Smith said ""If you ask me, I'll say the hardest hitter I ever went up against was Sam Langford. I fought most of the heavyweights of the last twenty years, Jack Johnson among them, and I think Langford could knock a fellow colder than any of them. It was like being hit with a baseball bat. He hit you so hard you didn't feel it. It was like taking ether -- you just went to sleep and you didn't know anything about it until you woke up." I think he's the better finisher of the two.
Lets look at it another way. The jewel in both their crowns, is two stoppages over a given Hall of Fame heavyweight. Very impressive in both cases. Now what happens if we take those away? Langford is knocking name fighters out left right and center, and crucially it seems to be done with a single carefully set up punch, in a frightening number of cases.
Not that Liston is far behind or anything. They are very clearly both extremely elite in this area. But it is a fact that Liston had a tendency to stop smaller men with his incredible finishing ability, Langford could brutalise guys bigger in similar fashion.
My recollection is that Langford's KO percentage dropped as he went up in weight, like all fighters do, and though it was super high when he was fighting smaller guys it wasn't amazing at heavyweight. He still finished with a 41% KO record, and part of that is due to how long past prime he fought. He fought until he was 43. By contrast, Liston maintained a 72% knockout rate fighting his entire career at heavyweight and fighting 'til the age of 40.
Numbers don't tell the whole story, but to forget them entirely, is just being silly. They definitely tell some of the story, and often a very important part. It's one thing to say that Langford knocked Wills out twice. That would be great enough, but people usually forget that they fought twenty-two times and Wills won about twenty of them. That's somewhat less impressive on Langford's side. If you take out all the guys under 200 lbs who wouldn't be heavyweights today, then Langford's KO record is 25-30%. Could he knock out a heavyweight? Yes. Was he an all time great heavyweight puncher? No. Was he a natural heavyweight? No, he weighed 185 lbs. Did he have great power for a light heavyweight/cruiserweight? Sure.
