| King Brown |
03-25-2016 04:46 PM |
As a shameless chauvinist and former boxer, I can't help myself from sneaking in a Nova Scotia connection with Johnson. Langford was popular as much as Johnson was reviled. From Wikipedia:
"Samuel "Sam" E. Langford (March 4, 1883 – January 12, 1956) was a Black Canadian boxing standout of the early part of the 20th century. Called the "Greatest Fighter Nobody Knows," by ESPN, many boxing historians consider Langford to be one of, if not the greatest fighter of all time. Originally from Weymouth Falls, a small community in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was known as "The Boston Bonecrusher," "The Boston Terror," and his most infamous nickname, "The Boston Tar Baby." Langford stood 5 ft 7 1⁄2 in (1.71 m) and weighed 185 lb (84 kg) in his prime. He fought from lightweight to heavyweight and defeated many world champions and legends of the time in each weight class. Considered a devastating puncher even at heavyweight, Langford was rated #2 by The Ring on their list of "100 greatest punchers of all time." One boxing historian described Langford as "...experienced as a heavyweight James Toney with the punching power of Mike Tyson."
"He was denied a shot at many World Championships due to the color bar and by the refusal of Jack Johnson, the first African-American World Heavyweight Champion, to fight him. Langford was the World Colored Heavyweight Champion, a title vacated by Johnson after he won the World Championship, a record five times. Many boxing aficionados consider Langford to be the greatest boxer not to win a world title. BoxRec ranks him as the 4th greatest heavyweight of all-time, the 9th greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all-time and the greatest Canadian boxer of all-time."
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