SAMMY LANGFORD - AN ALL TIME GREAT !!

A few people mentioned not knowing much about him, so I thought I do a little Bio. A lot of people on here probably know a lot more than me ;), but here's some info based on what I have seen, heard and read over the years. There is actually footage in circulation of Langford. :)

Throughout his career he generally weighed between 160 and 195 pounds, but actually fought as light as Featherweight. :o

He is almost certainly the greatest fighter to win a World title, due to being ducked by anyone with sense and of course being black. Even the likes of Dempsey and Johnson didn't want to know. He did lose to Johnson by 15 round decision early in his career, but Johnson saw enough to avoid a rematch. Langford was giving away about 30 pounds (he was barely more than a Middleweight) and Johnson was peak, whereas Langford was at least 6 years short of his!

Less than two years after turning pro, he dropped, beat and out boxed World Lightweight champ Joe Gans over 15 rounds, but of course this was a non title bout!

He did actually get the chance to fight for a World Title on one occasion against Welterweight champ Joe Walcott, but was denied the win by reputed suspect judging and only got a draw. Walcott was, at the time the Greatest Welterweight of all time

He was rumoured to carry white fighters because he was promised title shots by promoters if he did so. His 'No Contest' against great Middleweight champ Stanley Ketchel was believed to believed to be on of those fights.

Style wise, he was (when not carrying fighters) fast paced throwing combos and bombs right from the opening bell. He was very fast and slick with an excellent jab. He was a master of ducking and leaning to avoid being hit and used his arms and shoulders to block punches with real success.

He had eye trouble as early as 1917, but fought on for another 9 years. He eventually went completely blind, but I believe that was due to an accident and not solely boxing??

Probably at his best around 1911-1917 – Jack Dempsey admitted many years later that even on his best night he didn't think he would've beaten Langford and hence avoiding him. He claimed that Langford was the greatest of all time! ;)

He never got that fight or the fight against the racist bigot JessWillard, who he would imo, also have beaten convincingly. 8)


His victims include, Joe Walcott (officially a draw), Joe Gans, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Stanley Ketchel (officially a NC), Sam McVea, Gunboat Smith, Harry Wills and many more great fighters of the day!

Basically, it's a case of what could've been because he was avoided and never got the chance to win a World Title. :'(

If given a chance he would almost certainly have won every belt from Lightweight up to Heavy. ;)

Most of the stuff I learned about Langford I learned from this article. But... Regardless of what Ring magazine says I IMHO wouldn't really consider him as a heavyweight, at least not a "modern day" heavyweight. Certainly Langford's stature against heavyweights did not go unnoticed. ;)

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Originally Posted by fbear

Most of the stuff I learned about Langford I learned from this article. But... Regardless of what Ring magazine says I IMHO wouldn't really consider him as a heavyweight, at least not a "modern day" heavyweight. Certainly Langford's stature against heavyweights did not go unnoticed. ;)

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Very true mate - would've got mudered by the "Super" Heavyweights of today (well maybe not today, but you know what I mean ;))

I never realised Sammy didn't become a worldc hampion, reminds me of Herol Graham except Langford never really got the oppurtunities. i coolclick ya in the mailbox 8)

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Originally Posted by BIG H

A few people mentioned not knowing much about him, so I thought I do a little Bio. A lot of people on here probably know a lot more than me ;), but here’s some info based on what I have seen, heard and read over the years. There is actually footage in circulation of Langford. :)

Throughout his career he generally weighed between 160 and 195 pounds, but actually fought as light as Featherweight. :o

He is almost certainly the greatest fighter to win a World title, due to being ducked by anyone with sense and of course being black. Even the likes of Dempsey and Johnson didn’t want to know. He did lose to Johnson by 15 round decision early in his career, but Johnson saw enough to avoid a rematch. Langford was giving away about 30 pounds (he was barely more than a Middleweight) and Johnson was peak, whereas Langford was at least 6 years short of his!

Less than two years after turning pro, he dropped, beat and out boxed World Lightweight champ Joe Gans over 15 rounds, but of course this was a non title bout!

He did actually get the chance to fight for a World Title on one occasion against Welterweight champ Joe Walcott, but was denied the win by reputed suspect judging and only got a draw. Walcott was, at the time the Greatest Welterweight of all time

He was rumoured to carry white fighters because he was promised title shots by promoters if he did so. His ‘No Contest’ against great Middleweight champ Stanley Ketchel was believed to believed to be on of those fights.

Style wise, he was (when not carrying fighters) fast paced throwing combos and bombs right from the opening bell. He was very fast and slick with an excellent jab. He was a master of ducking and leaning to avoid being hit and used his arms and shoulders to block punches with real success.

He had eye trouble as early as 1917, but fought on for another 9 years. He eventually went completely blind, but I believe that was due to an accident and not solely boxing??

Probably at his best around 1911-1917 – Jack Dempsey admitted many years later that even on his best night he didn’t think he would’ve beaten Langford and hence avoiding him. He claimed that Langford was the greatest of all time! ;)

He never got that fight or the fight against the racist bigot JessWillard, who he would imo, also have beaten convincingly. 8)


His victims include, Joe Walcott (officially a draw), Joe Gans, Philadelphia Jack O’Brien, Stanley Ketchel (officially a NC), Sam McVea, Gunboat Smith, Harry Wills and many more great fighters of the day!

Basically, it’s a case of what could’ve been because he was avoided and never got the chance to win a World Title. :'(

If given a chance he would almost certainly have won every belt from Lightweight up to Heavy. ;)

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:coolclick:, interesting stuff, how much film is there of him fighting?

Cheers mate - Click back

Not sure how much footage, I saw a small clip a few years back, don't know who he was fighting though.

If Langford had faced Gans in a title bout he wouldn't have won ;) Having watched Gans before I think he would ahve beat Langford and Sam became a Heavyweight Champ(although not a world heavyweight Champ) And IMO Jack Johnson would have KO'd him.

Yea Langford is definetly an ATG.. Apparently he used to go very soft on alot of his early opponents in hopes that he could get rematches with them.. Because there were so few people that wanted to fight him. Also he has over 100 "Newspaper decision" fights that dont count on a pro record, but he was officially
182-34-34 with 130 Knockouts, perhaps one of the highest total KO records and percentages Im not really sure..
anyways here is his record.. http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=011023
Alot of those losses and draws throughout his career were probably pretty suspect..
Also look how many times he faces the same opponents, apparently he was just so feared by title holders and many big name fighters.. Also I know he retired dirt poor, blind and was found years later living on the streets as an old man. Then a fund was created for him and he received enough contributions to live on until he died.. Pretty sad case of a fighter really.

:coolclick:

great read, BIG H

:coolclick:

Cheers fella ("Can't repeat Karma") but CC in spirit ;)

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Originally Posted by •°¤*(¯`°~Starr~°´¯)* ¤Ã‚°â€¢

If Langford had faced Gans in a title bout he wouldn't have won ;)Â Having watched Gans before I think he would ahve beat Langford and Sam became a Heavyweight Champ(although not a world heavyweight Champ)Â And IMO Jack Johnson would have KO'd him.

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I think Dempsey would give him all he could handle too

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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

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Originally Posted by •°¤*(¯`°~Starr~°´¯)* ¤Ã‚°â€¢

If Langford had faced Gans in a title bout he wouldn't have won ;) Having watched Gans before I think he would ahve beat Langford and Sam became a Heavyweight Champ(although not a world heavyweight Champ) And IMO Jack Johnson would have KO'd him.

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I think Dempsey would give him all he could handle too

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Langford outboxed a prime Joe Gans... Whether you think Gans could have done better doesnt really matter.. He was an absolutely amazing fighter as well and Im not sure he had ever been beaten before Langford did.. Also Langford did fight Johnson as a young fighter and was KDed twice but some say it was very competitive, im sure you know that though.

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Originally Posted by p4pking

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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

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Originally Posted by •°¤*(¯`°~Starr~°´¯)* ¤Ã‚°â€¢

If Langford had faced Gans in a title bout he wouldn't have won ;)Â Having watched Gans before I think he would ahve beat Langford and Sam became a Heavyweight Champ(although not a world heavyweight Champ)Â And IMO Jack Johnson would have KO'd him.

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I think Dempsey would give him all he could handle too

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Langford outboxed a prime Joe Gans... Whether you think Gans could have done better doesnt really matter.. He was an absolutely amazing fighter as well and Im not sure he had ever been beaten before Langford did.. Also Langford did fight Johnson as a young fighter and was KDed twice but some say it was very competitive, im sure you know that though.

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And Langford only weight 156 at the time according to Boxrec!!

yea hes one of teh sadder storys in boxing taht show boxings sad side cause he died blind and poor in a nursing home in the 50's ...

Yeh, he's another one of those guys, who just didn't know when to pack it in!

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Originally Posted by means2184

yea hes one of teh sadder storys in boxing taht show boxings sad side cause he died blind and poor in a nursing home in the 50's ...

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wasn't one of his legs gone too ???

I only learned about a week ago during research for another thread that he was born in Canada, didn't know that before actually. :-[ :)

Yea probably best Canadian fighter ever.. Not sure he really had any choice as whether to pack it in too, life would be so rough for a black fighter those todays he probably earned very little and fighting was all he could do.. He still won some fights impressivly by KO against good opponents as an old man, mostly blind..

Great info and thanks for this thread.

What i don't get is if he was born in Canada, how he managed to end up with the Welsh title?

He had to fight abroad in order to get any title shot, if you look at his record the last part of his real career was in Mexico, he won the Mexican Heavyweight title it was the only shot he could get.. He also held the world "Colored" Heavyweight championship for a LONG time, while Jack Johnson was world champ, thats why the rematch should have happened..

Ahh thanx for teh explaination p4p

I just found these on the internet:

http://www.antekprizering.com/langford2015.jpeg
http://www.antekprizering.com/langfordsam2017.jpeg
http://www.antekprizering.com/langfordsam2027.jpeg (Sam McVey is the taller, more chiseled man)

For sure the "Boston Tar Baby" as Langford was called was a well-proportioned man of 5'8" and anwhere between 156 lbs. and a little over 190 lbs. He fought constantly, usually fighting around once per month on average, and fought all the other great black heavyweights of his day: Sam McVea, Joe Jeanette, Harry Wills, George Godfrey. He beat all of them but also took many losses, understandable since he was usually the far smaller man.

He beat Wills twice (losing 6 or 7 times) by knockout in 1914 and again in 1916, which in and of itself is amazing, considering that Wills was 6'3" and typically weighed between 205 and 225 lbs.

He also fought the big (6'4", 210 lb.) white heavyweight Fred Fulton a couple of times, losing both by knockout. Fulton was 1 of the very best heavyweights of his day although Dempsey stopped him in the 1st round in 1918 and Wills knocked him out in 3 in 1920. Fulton lived to be 82 years old, amazing for a guy who had over 100 fights. He also had the distinction of fighting perhaps 1 of the dirtiest fighters of all time, Carl Morris. Here's a quote from their fight in 1917:

"The bout was ended after Morris had fouled Fulton so often that Referee Hinkel was obliged to disqualify the Oklahoman. The contest was to have decided which of the two was the better qualified to meet Jess Willard in a heavyweight title match. Newspapers reported that Morris "violated every rule of boxing and of good sportsmanship.""

Sound familiar? ;D

CC for the pics ;)