Langford Defeats The Great Gans

On December 8, 1903, Sam Langford fought the reigning lightweight boxing champion in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.  Prior to fighting Langford, most boxing experts felt Joe Gans could not be beaten in a legitimate bout.  Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Gans was able to break the color barrier by winning the World Lightweight Boxing Championship.

Sam Langford is often considered the greatest boxer never to win a world boxing championship.  Beginning as a lightweight and eventually fighting as a heavyweight, the Canadian Langford was born in Nova Scotia before relocating to Boston.  Langford had two things going against him at the turn of the Twentieth Century.  He was black and too good to risk putting the champion up against him.

At the time of his bout with Gans, Langford was little known outside of Boston.  Gans weighed in three pounds over the lightweight limit at 138, while Langford was 137.  Due to the men being over the legal limit, the bout was a non-title affair.  Interestingly, Langford weighed 185 pound in his prime.

When the bout started, Langford avoided any serious exchanges with Gan.  Langford later stated that Gans was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.  Langford respected Gans so much that he avoided the fight for the first four rounds.  Gans only managed a few weak ineffective blows.  These weak punches seemed to inspire Langford.

From Rounds 5 to 7, Langford began to land more blows on Gans and evened up the fight.  From Round 8 to 15, Langford totally dominated the fight with a pumping jab that bloodied Gans’ nose.  An occasional right hand stung Gans, who only tried to survived.  At the end of the fight, Langford’s hand was raised for the unanimous decision victory.

Langford would continue to fight the best black fighters of the early Twentieth Century.  Jack Johnson fought Langford one time in 1906.  Johnson won a unanimous but disputed decision.  Johnson flatly refused to fight Langford again.  After Johnson finally broke the color barrier to the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, Johnson would not fight the other deserving black fighters.  Johnson particularly avoided Sam Langford.

In 1922, an almost blind Langford defeated future Middleweight Champion Tiger Flowers by second round knockout.  Sam Langford finally retired at 43 years of age in 1926 after completely losing his eyesight.

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