샘 랭포드 KOs 배틀린’ 짐 존슨

화요일에, 12월 12, 1916, 샘 랭포드(Sam Langford)가 옹호했습니다. “Colored World Heavyweight Boxing Championship”, 그는 2월에 Sam McVea로부터 우승을 차지했습니다. 1916. 사이에 1904 과 1919, 최고의 아프리카계 미국인 권투 선수, 또는 Langford와 같은 흑인 캐나다인, 꼼짝 못하게 서로 싸우고 있었다 “컬러” 선수권 대회.

만약 백인 전사가 그들과 싸웠다면, it was only to develop their own reputation to fight the current champion. Peter Jackson was the uncrowned champion of his era. “Gentlemen” Jim Corbett fought Jackson to prove himself worthy to fight John L. 설리반. When Corbett won the title from John L. 설리반, 그러나, he refused to “cross the color line” and fight Jackson.

Sam Langford and other great fighters suffered this same fate even after the first African-American champion Jack Johnson won the world title in 1908. They were forced to fight each other for little money. 따라서, they fought far more often than they should to keep from starving while less talented fighters made more money.

Langford fought on average one or two fights a month through out 1916. 12 월 1916, Langford was matched with Battlin’ Jim Johnson in New York’s Future City Athletic Club. Jim Johnson was a competent fighter but lost to all the best African-American fighters.

Johnson had the size and age advantage. Johnson stood 5’11’ 및 무게 218 파운드. 그는 또한 있었다 4 years younger at 29 세.

Langford, who fought as low as welterweight (147 파운드), stood 5’06” 및 무게 210 pounds for this fight. 그러나, Langford’s skill level far surpassed Jim Johnson’s.

Johnson was game and tried to strike Langford with some heavy blows. He ended up hitting a lot of air and very little of Langford. Langford would move slightly out of the way and counter with his much faster strikes.

Despite Langford’s dominance, the match was headed for a twelve-round draw since decisions were not allowed in New York at the time. Langford ended Johnson’s hope of hanging on for the final bell, when he hit Johnson with a left to the belly. As Johnson’s diaphragm collapsed and he showed obvious signs of distress, Langford ended his night with a right cross to the jaw.

Langford continued fighting until 1922, when he was almost 40 세. He never secured a fight with Johnson or his successors. The “color barrier” was used to protect the champions from the most dangerous contender at the time.

Langford, who was born March 4, 1883, in Nova Scotia lived until a couple months before his 73rd birthday on January 12, 1956.

아이러니하게도, Jim Johnson did secure a title fight with Jack Johnson. In the first title fight between black fighters, Johnson fought Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson was in exile in Europe at the time. Newspapers reported that the draw looked to be an exhibition between the two men.

Jim Johnson was going to fight Sam Langford once again in Lowell, Massachusetts in late 1918 but the Spanish flu pandemic caused the fight to be delayed. On his way to the site, Johnson contracted the Spanish flu and spent several days in a Danville, Virginia hospital. Johnson died from the flu and resulting pneumonia on November 6, 1918.

Did Sam Langford get a raw deal? 그 이유는 무엇? 아래 댓글 섹션 또는 내 게시물에 댓글을 남기거나 질문을 할 수 있습니다. Facebook page 또는 Twitter profile.

Sources: 생. 루이스 포스트 - 디스패치, 일월 4, 1916, 피. 16 과 생. Louis Star-Times, 12월 13, 1916 edition, 피. 13

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