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.

WTF are you talking about. Foreman,k Tyson, Liston, and probably Louis would have killed Johnson. He was way too small, and fought in primitive times.

Exactly i think this is a joke Johnson had the old boxing style he would of been killed by all the modern greats too big too athletic too everything and people keep saying he could of changed his style actually its not that easy to change someones style who knows if that would of been good for him ?? but we are on about prime for prime Johnson would get killed.

Aww come on Ice man how many times do I need to explain this? If Johnson was born in another era he wouldn't need to change his style he would be fighting according to the advancements of the time.

How can you not understand this. Roy Jones speed and athletic ability are what made him great.

What made Jack Johnson great was his innate understanding of the art of pugilism and defense in particular.

That ability can be transferred to any era just the same as natural athleticism.

I'll say it again, if Gallieleo had been born in 1940 he wouldn't need to put away his 16 th century telescope he would never have had a 16 th century telescope! He would have spent his entire career dealing with modern telescopes!

Why do you keep getting hung up on how Jack Johnson's style was dated? It's dated becuase he was one of the original innovaters and future generations of fighters have built upon the knowledge laid down by Johnson and other great fighters like him.

If he was born in 1950 it's safe to assume that he could just as easily grasp the modern fundamentals of pugilsm and add to that knowledge, the same way Floyd could if he boxed 50 years from now.

And as for him being too small he wasn't. People were smaller back then because of diet and health factors. If was boxing today he would be probably 3 inches taller and 15 lbs heavier than in his prime in the 1900's.

And what do you mean by modern fighters are too athletic

Johnson was used to fighting 30 rounds or more how many modern fighters in any weight class could manage that let alone amongst the heavyweights?