Sensational Sam Langford, The Boston Tar Baby
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Sam Langford, The Boston Tar Baby, was the one fighter Jack Dempsey was afraid of and
absolutelyrefused to fight. Langford figured into 316 professional bouts between
1902 and 1926, winning 179, losing 30, drawing 39, with a record of 31-14-16 in newspaper
decisions.With 128 knockouts, Langford knocked out more men in the heavyweight
division than Iron Mike Tyson and George Foreman combined. He was born in Nova
Scotia, Canada, the most famous of Canadian fighters-white or black-in boxing history.
Ten months after his pro debut, Langford was already an established winning 10 round
fighter. In his final years, Sam fought half blind, and then fought mostly blind, till he went
blind. Several operations after his retirement from the ring unfortunately failed to restore
his sight. From Teddy Roosevelt to Harry Greb to John Henry Lewis, boxers back in the
day frequently fought as amateurs and professionals after losing the sight in an eye. For
Langford, boxing was his only livelihood till the bitter end.
Sam Langford versus Fireman Jim Flynn III, March 17, 2010.
Archival footage. Flynn went on to fight Jack Johnson for the World Heavyweight title in
1912 but was disqualified in the ninth round. Flynn kayoed future world heavyweight
champion Jack Dempsey in the first round in 1917. In all total, Flynn would fight Langford
six times. Langford won five of those confrontations.
Sam was fascinating not just for overcoming adversity in the face of the racism of the time,
but for the unique way he passed his way up through the divisions of boxing over the
course of time. In his second year as a pro, he defeated world lightweight champion Joe
Gans in a 15 round nontitle bout. In his third year as a pro, he drew over 15 rounds with
World Welterweight champion Joe Walcott. In 1906, Langford lost a 15 round decision for
the World Colored Heavyweight championship weighing 156 pounds to Jack Johnson’s 185 pounds. When Johnson won the undisputed World Heavyweight title, he refused to fight Langford in a rematch after Langford had gone up in weight.
Langford fought only the best: Harry Wills 18 times, Sam McVea 15 times, Joe Jeanette 14
times, and Battling Jim Johnson 11 times. This was an extraordinary ledger for a
heavyweight fighter of 160 pounds or so back in the day. As was said of Langford, he was
the one fighter who was never given the chance to show (in his prime) how good he really
was. Langford died in a private nursing home in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 73 in
1956, after living his life blind for 33 years.
In the Cambridge Cemetery, in Cambridge,Massachusetts, on the Amaranth Path, there is
a lonely tombstone which reads simply Langford. Nobody visits. Sam Langford is with the
Lord. As a fighter, Sam Langford was sensational, to the extent not wearing the world
heavyweight title belt has not diminishedhis stature in boxing history over the course of
time. It’s the talent of the fighter, not thebelt, which counts most in the court of boxing
history. Langford held the colored World Middleweight and World Heavyweight titles, as
well as the Mexican Heavyweight titles, at various points during his career. These belts
obviously did not figure into his alternate nickname ‘The Boston Terror, an experience
known to Langford’s many knockout victims who coined his ‘other’ nickname.
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