This Day in History (December 8, 1903)
By Uncategorized December 8th, 2006Today in Boxing History: Sam Langford decisions Joe Gans
On this day in 1903, Sam Langford bested Joe Gans in a 15-round non-title bout in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the only time these two all-time greats ever met.
Both fighters were at different points in their careers when they faced each other. Langford was in the early stage and came into the fight with a 16-1-1 record. Gans was the current world lightweight champion and had been for the past 17 months.
Langford may have won the decision, but Gans came into the fight with severe disadvantages. His fighting weight stayed in the mid-130 pound range, while Langford was much larger. And Gans had fought Dave Holly in Philadelphia the day before.
Gans shook off the loss to Langford and held the lightweight crown until 1908. Langford went on to beat many of the top fighters of his day, but sadly, racism in the sport prevented him from ever receiving a shot at any world title.
December 8th, 2006 at 1:08 am
Sam Langford was about as great a fighter as it gets. The man never weighed more than around 160 lbs, yet he fought heavyweights as a routine, beating most of them. The great Jack Johnson once took a razor close decision over Langford and avoided him like the plague for the rest of his career. Pound for pound, Sam Langford has to rank serious consideration as possibly the best fighter in the history of boxing.
December 8th, 2006 at 7:42 am
Wow the great Jack Johnson avoided Langford huh. Hmmmm…..Jack must of been lucky then to get the break’s and shot’s he did. I never heard of Sam Langford nor have I ever heard of any boxing experts speak of him.
December 8th, 2006 at 9:02 am
If you never heard of Sam Langford than you don’t know your boxing history. What I didn’t know was that he fought around 160#. He fought all the top black heavyweights of his day, faring well.
December 8th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
I once met a man who was 92, he would be over a hundred if he were still alive. He was surprised I knew who Sam Langford was. He just did not have enough praise for this man, saying Sam was definitely one of the greatest ever.
December 10th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
Langford must have been a piece of work, alright. The guy had right around 300 fights during his career and as another poster mentioned, was a true middleweight that often defeated heavyweights. He won the Negro HW Championship at one point in his era and did indeed give Jack Johnson a close contest before the latter was HW champion of the world. There was also a fierce battle with the great middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel that ended in a no contest decision - a fight that most thought was too close to call. That was another example where a rematch was clearly called for but never materialized. Langford was easily one of the top 10 greatest fighters of all time - going away.