Jack Johnson vs Gene Tunney

[Kev]

I'm a big Jack Johnson fan and reckon he could win this. He did struggle to get motivated for fights though.

A motivated Johnson would have been trouble for any fighter in history imo.

Even Larry Holmes said that he felt the only fighter in history who he would have struggled to beat was Jack Johnson.

Well Holmes must of been being nice to Johnson because no way Holmes would of struggled with Johnson he has very old boxing style that wouldn't work in newer eras Tunney by decision.

Have you ever even watched Johnson fight? Most fighters couldn't even lay a glove on him.

He was at least 50 years ahead of his time. If he would have lived and fought in another era he would have mastered the current level of boxing knowledge and built upon it again.

Do you think if Gallileo or Newton lived today they would be crap scientists and have less understanding of physics than the average high school student?

Of course not, they would absorb all of today's knowledge and build upon it. They would have been brilliant visonaries in any era, and so would have Jack Johnson.

Nice point but im not sure if Intelligence and Athleticism go hand in hand?

Athleticism wasn't what made Johnson great, it was a masterful understanding of the sweet science of the defensive arts. No matter what era he would have fought in his intuitive understanding of boxing would have made him a nightmare for anybody to face.

How anyone could possibly think his style wouldn't be any good today is completely beyond me to honest

Can anyone seriously imagine Sam Peter, Oleg Maskaev, Shannon Briggs and the like having a F****** cool about how to unlock his defense? He'd make most of today's heavies look silly.

I'd fancy his chances against any fighter who ever lived.

When did i say in todays era ?? i clearly stated i was on about 90s 80s 70s ect.

And he would lose to the following

Larry Holmes
Mike Tyson
Muhammad Ali
Riddick Bowe
Lennox Lewis
Sonny Liston
George Foreman
Joe Louis

I'd fancy him to beat Tyson, Liston, Luis, Bowe and Foreman. Lennox Lewis and Ali would have been his hardest fights and Holmes. But I can't seriously see how you can think he wouldn't have lived in any of those eras

Johnson was the Ray Robinson of the heavyweight division. It's fighters like Johnson, Willie Pep, Ray Robinson etc who were the innovators and inspirations for all the fighters that came after them.

Johnson was light years ahead of his contemporaries.

Well its pretty easy why he wouldn't his style was of olden time boxing his style would not fare well against skilled hws of 70s 80s and 90s plus they are much bigger and no he wasn't the Sugar Ray Robinson of hw division Robinson didn't have olden time style he was skilled fast and powerful and had similar style to young generations of boxers bit like Ray Leonard or ect Johnson on other hand was skilled but really and truthfully his style is very old boxing style that would not fare well against fighters i mentioned Lewis would beat him down so would Ali and Foreman ect i don't see how you can think he would give them fighters tough time or even beat them boxing has come along way Johnson was excellent for his time but sport has moved on and his style against elites of 70s 80s and 90s he would get bad beat down im sorry to say.

I don't understand you at all? Johnson was lightyears AHEAD of his time so why would you think that if he fought in the 70's that he would fight the way people fought 50 years before

If Johnson would have fought in the 70's he'd have been an innovator then, fighting with a defense tighter than B Hop.

Again I go back to my previous analogy. If Galilleo lived today he wouldn't be studying the universe looking through a telescope built in the 1500's so why would you assume that Jack Johnson would be fighting as if boxing had only been invented 30 years or so before?


I'll give you a modern example. Look at Floyd. His defensive skills will doubtless inspire some of the best boxers of the next generation one of whom may well go on to improve his technique. Does that mean that if Floyd were to have fought in a future era that he wouldn't have been able to learn those skills? Of course not it's absurd to even think that. Floyd would have been just as talented in any era. He has the ability to master the boxing fundamentals and fight with the best possible defensive style for his era. If he fought in a different era where boxers had different styles he would have mastered a defensive strategy suitable for that era.