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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

1906-04-26 Jack Johnson W-PTS15 Sam Langford [Lincoln Athletic Club, Chelsea, MA, USA]

1906-04-27 The Boston Journal (Boston, MA) (page 9)
LANGFORD LOSES IN GAME FIGHT
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Sam Langford was beaten badly by Jack Johnson at Chelsea last night, but earned the cheers of his admirers and many more besides by a superb exhibition of grit and courage that makes other local exhibitions of gameness in the ring fade almost into insignificance.

He was there all through the fifteen rounds, and saved a lot of money for his friends who had bet that he would last ten rounds, twelve rounds or stay the limit. But it is a question if he were wire, for the beating he took is enough to seriously impair his strength and health.

Most of the punishment was on the head, and so may not have the injurious effect that a severe drubbing on the body would have. Sam didn't have a chance on earth to win, for he was outweighed about thirty-five pounds, and Johnson was too clever, too fast, too heavy, too strong and too powerful in punching for him.

Sam went down three times. On the first occasion it looked as if he slipped or stumbled to his knees, as the accompanying punch was not heavy. He was knocked down with a powerful left hook in the middle of the sixth round and lay on his face. He was down just nine seconds, according to Timekeeper Murphy, a thoroughly honest man, and the referee, Maffit Flaherty, who says he was on his feet at the call of nine, and according to several watches in the hands of men around the ring.

Down Again.

Later on in the same round he was down again for nine seconds. On the first knockdown it looked as if he couldn't continue. But he arose within the specified ten seconds. The second time he went to the floor from a right hand smash on the jaw. He wasn't in such a bad way and arose all right. Johnson tried his best to give him his quietus, but was exhausted and weak from punching and couldn't land the knockout.

It was a one-sided fight. It was all Johnson all the way. Sam did well on his left stabs and showed at times an inclination to shoot the right over for Jack's jaw. But he was outclassed too much naturally to make it any kind of an even fight.

Johnson's showing was commented on by everybody who declared that his challenges to Jeffries were preposterous. He would have been an easy mark for the champion had he been taken on.

Johnson was esquired by Joe Walcott, Kid Murray, Jack McCloskey and Santy Ferguson and George Dixon gave advice from the corner. George Byers, Andy Watson and other friends were in Sam's corner.

Unholz Disappoints.

In the opening preliminary Deny Ryan of Cambridge defeated Custer Dow in two rounds in a slam-bang slashing fight. Custer took the place of Tommy Murray who did not appear. In the other preliminary Rudolph Unholz, the champion of South Africa, showed a wonderful physique and won over Kid Murry, one of Jack Johnson's assistants. Unholz did not make much of a hit and will hardly be considered for a main bout. He fought a fellow who was a good deal taller. He was aggressive and ambitious but he is not high class.


1906-04-27 The Evening Times (Pawtucket, RI) (page 2)
JOHNSON FAILS TO KNOCK OUT SAM LANGFORD
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Jack Johnson of Texas, the big colored heavyweight, who claims the heavyweight championship of the world, tried with might and main for 15 rounds last night at the Lincoln Club, Chelsea, to knock out Sam Langford of Cambridge. Considering the fact that Langford was nearly 40 pounds lighter and fully a foot shorter this does not add to the credit of Johnson, but must be considered quite a performance for Langford, and this great middleweight will probably have greater difficulty in getting matches than he has had in the past. True, during the 15 rounds that the pair were at it, Langford was hammered as no fighter ever has been hammered in the same number of rounds, but the fact remains that Johnson could not knock him out, and whether it was due to Langford's ability to take punishment or Johnson's absence of a knockout punch has nothing to do with the matter, but it is hard to see a champion in a heavyweight of 195 pounds who cannot stop a middleweight, at the heaviest in this time.

The battle itself was about as wicked an event as has been seen in a long while, and was too one-sided to be of interest, the only thing that could possibly be imagined as a cause for the enthusiasm that was aroused being Langford's gameness and his staying the full 15 rounds.

Previous to the starting of the battle the betting was all that Langford would or would not stay the distance. For a while in the early rounds Langford showed beautifully, using his left in a wonderful manner, but after about the fourth round Johnson began hooking his left to the body and swinging right and left wickedly to the head. In the sixth round Johnson rushed Langford to the ropes, smashed him about the body and wound up with a terrific left hook to the jaw, and Langford went to the mat for the count, laying on his face and apparently all out. But he regained his feet and hugged through the round, but Johnson, with his superior weight and strength, shook Langford off and whaled him viciously and dropped him to the mat again for a few seconds.

From then on the fight was too one-sided to be interesting. Johnson closed Langford's left eye and gave him the worst licking a man ever took in the Chelsea ring, and there was never a chance for Langford, though he was game to the finish and flashed occasionally. Langford's face was a sight at the end of the contest, and it is a question as to just how the licking he received last night will affect him in the future.

In the preliminaries, Johnnie Ryan knocked out Custer Dow in the second round and Rudolph Unholz of South Africa whipped Jimmy Martin of California, Jack Johnson's sparring partner, in a hard six-round battle.


1906-04-27 The Evening World (New York, NY) (page 12)
BIG JACK JOHNSON DEFEATS LANGFORD
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(Special to The Evening World.)

BOSTON, April 27.--Jack Johnson, the colored heavy-weight, of Galveston, won the decision over Sam Langford in their fifteen-round bout at the Lincoln Club, Chelsea, last night. Outweighed by at least forty pounds and a head shorter than Johnson, the Boston man was good and strong when the bout ended.

The sports generally, as well as Johnson, believed Langford would be down and out before ten rounds, and it looked in the sixth round as if they had guessed right, for Langford was sent to the floor for the count. He came back quickly, and when the round ended Johnson was in as bad a way as Langford.

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