Sam Langford fought from lightweight to heavyweight and defeated many world champions and legends of the time in each weight class.
56 Facts About Sam Langford
2.
One boxing historian described Sam Langford as "experienced as a heavyweight James Toney with the punching power of Mike Tyson".
3.
Sam Langford was denied a shot at many World Championships, due to the colour bar and by the refusal of Jack Johnson, the first African-American World Heavyweight Champion, to fight him in a rematch.
4.
Sam Langford was the World Colored Heavyweight Champion, a title vacated by Johnson after he won the World Championship, a record five times.
5.
Alongside this, Sam Langford defeated the reigning Lightweight Champion Joe Gans, the first African-American World Champion in boxing history and widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, in a non-title bout.
6.
Many boxing aficionados consider Sam Langford to be the greatest boxer not to have won a world title.
7.
Sam Langford left home as a youth to escape an abusive father.
8.
Sam Langford made his way to Boston where he eventually found work as a janitor in a boxing gymnasium at the Lenox Athletic Club.
9.
Sam Langford won the amateur featherweight championship of Boston at age 15.
10.
Sam Langford was a boxer who fought greats from the lightweight division right up to the heavyweights, beating many champions in the process.
11.
Langford's most memorable fights were his numerous encounters against fellow black boxers Sam McVey, Battling Jim Johnson, Joe Jeanette and Harry Wills, who all experienced similar barriers in their fighting careers.
12.
Sam Langford defeated World Lightweight Champion Joe Gans on December 8,1903, via a 15-round decision.
13.
Sam Langford considered Gans the pound-for-pound greatest fighter of all time.
14.
Sam Langford fought Jack Blackburn, trainer of the legendary Joe Louis, six times.
15.
However, reports of the fight say Sam Langford clearly outpointed the champion.
16.
Sam Langford kept Walcott at a distance with his longer reach and used his footwork to evade all of Walcott's attacks.
17.
Sam Langford landed lefts and rights to the jaw so effectively, Walcott was bleeding by round two and continued bleeding more after every round.
18.
In 1912, Sam Langford was one of the contenders for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship fought at various venues across Australia.
19.
Sam Langford allowed his sparring partners to hit him just when and where they pleased.
20.
Sam Langford is as fast on his feet and as graceful as a ballet dancer.
21.
Sam Langford carries a punch like unto that of a kick of a mule, and is practically impervious to punishment.
22.
Sam Langford fought welterweight Young Peter Jackson six times, winning the first two by decision, the third was a draw via points, losing the fourth by technical knockout and winning the fifth and sixth bouts again by decision.
23.
Sam Langford won the title by besting Jackson on points in the 20-round bout.
24.
Sam Langford fought heavyweight Joe Jeanette fourteen times, losing the first by eighth-round retirement, winning second by decision, third and fourth were a draw via points, winning the fifth through eighth by decision, ninth was a draw via points, winning the tenth on the decision, eleventh was a draw via points, lost the twelfth by decision and winning the thirteenth by seventh-round knock out and fourteenth by decision.
25.
Sam Langford fought future World Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson on April 26,1906, losing by a fifteenth-round decision.
26.
Sam Langford took severe punishment and was knocked down 3 times; however, he lasted the 15 round distance.
27.
Sam Langford fought heavyweight Fireman Jim Flynn six times, winning the first by first-round knockout, losing the second by decision, winning the third by eighth-round knockout, winning the fourth by decision, winning the fifth by third-round knockout, and winning the sixth by decision.
28.
Sam Langford fought heavyweight Battling Jim Johnson twelve times, winning the first three by decision, fourth and fifth were a draw via points, winning the sixth and seventh on points, eighth by twelfth-round knockout, ninth through eleventh by points, and drawing in the twelfth via points.
29.
Sam Langford defeated former World Light Heavyweight Champion Philadelphia Jack O'Brien on August 15,1911, by fifth-round technical knockout.
30.
Sam Langford fought heavyweight Gunboat Smith twice, losing the first by decision and winning the second by third-round knockout.
31.
Sam Langford was 31 in the first bout and continued to suffer from old age and failing eyesight more and more each fight.
32.
However, reports of the fight say Sam Langford clearly outpointed the champion.
33.
Sam Langford kept Walcott at a distance with his longer reach and used his footwork to evade all of Walcott's attacks.
34.
Sam Langford landed lefts and rights to the jaw so effectively, Walcott was bleeding by round two and continued bleeding more after every round.
35.
Sam Langford's opponent was Sam Langford, who clearly outpointed the champion, and the latter's aggressiveness in carrying the fight to Langford was all that saved him from making a decision that would have given him the short end of the purse.
36.
Sam Langford took advantage of his longer reach and repeatedly played a tattoo on Walcott's face, and his cleverness on his feet carried him away from a score or more times when Walcott endeavored by sheer brute force to deliver a knockout blow.
37.
Sam Langford won the World Colored Heavyweight Championship a record five times between 1910 and 1918.
38.
Joe Jeanette and Sam Langford McVey fought in Paris in February 1909 to fill the vacant title, with McVey the victor.
39.
Subsequently, Sam Langford claimed the title during Jeanette's reign after Johnson refused to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against him.
40.
On September 6,1910, in Boston, Massachusetts, Sam Langford became the undisputed coloured champ by winning a 15-round bout with Jeanette on points.
41.
Sam Langford had lost to Jack Johnson the only time they had fought, on April 26,1906, in a fifteen-round decision.
42.
Johnson claimed that Sam Langford was unable to raise $30,000 for his guarantee.
43.
On March 27,1914, in New York City, Sam Langford won a newspaper decision in a ten-rounder with Johnson.
44.
Sam Langford faced Joe Jeanette five more times and did not win a single contest.
45.
Sam Langford fought heavyweight Fred Fulton twice, losing the first by seventh-round technical knockout and the second by a four-round decision.
46.
On June 5,1922, Sam Langford knocked out Tiger Flowers in only the second round.
47.
Sam Langford was mostly blind and Flowers would soon afterwards win the World Middleweight Championship.
48.
In 1923, Sam Langford fought and won Boxing's last "fight to the finish" for the Mexican Heavyweight title.
49.
Sam Langford's last fight was in 1926, when his failing eyesight finally forced him to retire.
50.
Films exist of Sam Langford fighting Fireman Jim Flynn and Bill Lang.
51.
Sam Langford then knocked out his opponent within the first round, apologized to the audience , and left, just in time to catch his train.
52.
Sam Langford eventually went completely blind and ended up penniless, living in Harlem, New York City.
53.
Sam Langford was enshrined in the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1955.
54.
Sam Langford died a year later in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he had been living in a private nursing home.
55.
In 1999, Sam Langford was voted Nova Scotia's top male athlete of the 20th century.
56.
In 2018 Sam Langford was ranked fifth in a selection of the greatest 15 athletes in Nova Scotia's history.