Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Is Sam Langford a TOP 5 ATG?

Boxing historian Bert Sugar ranks Langford #16 right behind Joe Gans. Sam with a few exceptions was regulated to fighting mostly other black fighters of his day like the ones you mentioned. He obviously beat fighters from nearly all weight cles. He also beat the great welterweight Barbados Joe Walcott along the way as well. Heavyweight Champ Jack Johnson flatly refused to defend his title vs Langford. I noticed that you have Stanley Ketchel on your list but the fact is, he did not beat Ketchel. He boxed a no decision 6 round bout with him while Ketchel was Champ in 1910, the year of Ketchel's untimely death. From what I read Langford scored well early in their fight but Ketchel took control near the end of the fight. Too bad he never got a shot at that title too. Langford had great skill and power is is a legendary fighter but I cannot rank him in the top 5. As a matter of fact I rank him somewhere between 11-15.

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