Sam Langford

Sam Langford
Data
Birth Name	Sam Langford
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	March 4, 1883
place of birth	Waymouth Falls
Date of death	January 12, 1956
Place of death	Cambridge
style	Left delivery
size	1.73 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	317
Victories	211
Knockout victories	130
Defeats	44
draw	55
No value	7th

Sam Langford (born March 4, 1883 in Waymouth Falls , Digby County , Canada , † January 12, 1956 in Cambridge ) was an Afro-Canadian and one of the best boxers of the first years of the 20th century. He fought in the US under the name Boston Tar Baby . Although he never boxed for a world championship, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955 as the first untitled boxer . The magazine " Boxing Illustrated " calls him the best fighter of all time who did not get a title fight (see also Charley Burley )

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At twelve he ran away from home and worked his way to Boston . He made his professional debut when he was 16 and won a series of fights, earning him the names "The Boston Terror" and "Boston Tar Baby". At that time he was 1.70 m tall and weighed just under 62 kg. A year and a half later he was already facing Joe Gans , the lightweight world champion, and beat him over 15 rounds on points. However, this was not a title fight, which was typical of his 21-year career: Although he beat many titleholders, he did not win a single title in the United States. Although his weight allowed him to box in the lower classes as a heavyweight, none of the titleholders risked his title against him.

In addition, after Jack Johnson became world champion in 1908 and initially appeared invincible for white boxers, no value was placed on another black champion in the USA . In the period from 1902 to 1923, Langford fought in almost 300 fights, mostly against larger and heavier opponents. Yet he seldom left the ring as a loser; because although it wasn't big, it had a long reach and could hit hard with both hands.

After just three years as a professional, his manager was of the opinion that he was ready for the big players in the heavyweight league. He completed a fight against the black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. Although this had clear advantages in height and weight (84 kg against 71 kg) and could knock Langford down twice during the fight, Johnson had to be content with a point win after 15 rounds. Later, as world champion (including the whites) from 1908 onwards, he persistently refused to take on Langford again.

An injury in 1917 caused Langford to go blind in the right eye. However, he continued to box against the advice of his manager and went completely blind 7 years later. The reporter Al Laney, who was researching an article about former boxers, tracked him down in Harlem in 1944, where he found him lonely, impoverished and blind. He got former followers to set up a fund to ensure that Langford could live in modest comfort until his death.

In 1990 Langford was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

Web links

• Match record