1918-06-19 Sam Langford W-PTS10 Battling Jim Johnson (Auditorium, Atlanta, GA, USA)

1918-06-20 The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA) (page 9)

"Boston Tar Baby" Outpoints Jim Johnson in Great Fight

--------

By Ray White.

It remained for two colored men to give Atlanta fistic fans a demonstration of real pugilism, which Sam Langford, the world-renowned "Boston Tar Baby," and "Battling" Jim Johnson, of New York, the world's knockout record holder, did with a vengeance in a 10-round gruelling mill at the Auditorium last night, in which "Tham" outpointed, without vanquishing, his antagonist.

Beyond question, it was 10 rounds of the most skilful, most scientific and at once the most terrific fighting by heavyweights ever seen in a local ring that the sport-lovers of Atlanta saw last night. At the same time, the entire card was perhaps the best ever offered--so good, in fact, that there was not a spot in it where criticism could be advanced with fairness to any of the dusky performers, or to the management.

Colored Card Throughout.

And it was a colored card throughout, opening with a rattling good battle royal between five local negroes of varying class, which was in itself well worth going to see. The battle royal was followed by a corking four-round bout between Young Jackson and Spike Wilson, which the latter, who was by several pounds the heavier, negro won by a decision, and that bout by what was scheduled for a six-session mill between Charlie Stinson and George Wilmington. Stinson fought like a tiger while he lasted, but was unable to weather the onslaughts of his heavier adversary, and the referee very properly stopped the contest in the third, giving Wilmington a technical knockout verdict.

When the main bout last night opened, the two giants came together with a crash and a bang, and during the first and second rounds, Johnson managed to keep comparatively free from Sam's terrible short-distance punches, and in that way he won claim to both rounds by a shade. He was the aggressor in those two sessions, but in the third the "Tar Baby" went in as though to get through and catch his train home. He kept close to the bigger fellow, and the way he bombarded Johnson in the clinches kept the spectators on their feet in bewilderment. That was Sam's round, but in the fourth and fifth Jim held him even during two rounds of the greatest fighting and most clever boxing any devotee of the "manly art" might wish to see. The sixth was Sam's by a very narrow margin, and he increased his lead in the seventh, when he slowed the big fellow perceptibly with a sickening smash in the pit of the stomach. He won that round, and for a moment it looked as though it was about time to reach for hats, when Jim awoke suddenly, and, with a piledriver blow sent to the mouth, he sent "Tham" back across the ring. The smaller man came back like a flash, however, and, bleeding from a cut lip, proceeded to validate his title to that round.

The eighth likewise was Langford's and Sam also, perhaps was entitled to a shade in the ninth.

Tenth Round Desperate.

But the tenth and last and most desperately-contested round of the match was won by Johnson. Both men came in for the beginning of the end, each determined to leave the hall with the other's scalp hanging to his belt. It was just after a gruelling mixup when Johnson scored the first and only knock-down of the bout. He caught Sam a horrible kick which was aimed at the jaw, but which missed its mark by a matter of a few inches and took Langford on the side of the head. The force of the blow sent Langford sprawling to his knees, but he was up instantly, unhurt, and for the remainder of the entertainment gave his heavier foe full measure for all that he received.

Danny O'Donnell, of Cleveland, Ohio, was the third man in the ring during the main bout, and covered himself with honor by his skill, fairness and competency. While both men fought absolutely clean and according to rules, the referee's job was a hard and a dangerous one. Danny did more than well, and his verdict was one against which not a word of complaint could justly be uttered.

William Shaw, a colored man, refereed the battle royal and the two other bouts; and M. H. Karnes made a very satisfactory substitute for Dick Jemison as the announcer.

Just before the wind-up bout Announcer Karnes made a speech, during which he elicited rounds of applause by announcing that, beginning with a bout on the night of July 3 the promoters of last night's entertainment will stage a series of ten contests. The opening bout of the series will include Charlie White, said Mr. Karnes, against either Joe Welling, Frankie Callahan, Jimmie Dundee or Irish Patsy Kline--most probably the last named. Other boxers--every one a top-notch man--the announcer said, has been signed to appear during the series, are Bennie Leonard, Johnnie Kilbane, Jack Dempsey, Fred Fulton, Pete Hermann, Earl Puryear, Pal Moore and others.

1916-01-03 Sam Langford L-PTS20 Harry Wills [Tulane Athletic Club, New Orleans, LA, USA]

1916-01-03 The Daily States (New Orleans, LA) (page 11)

LANGFORD MEETS WILLS AT TULANE A. C. TONIGHT

--------

Negroes In Good Shape and Promise Fast Bout, Says Promoter Burns

--------

BY HARRY MARTINEZ

Harry Wills and Sam Langford will enter the ring at the Tulane Club arena Monday night in good condition to furnish the local boxing fans with the first negro heavyweight scrap seen here in several months, according to word forthcoming from the local promoters of the scheduled twenty-round bout.

When the two last met here, the bout only went ten rounds, the decision going to the local negro. This was more than a year ago. Since then the Boston "Tar Baby" dropped Wills for the count in a bout on the coast. In this last scrap Wills floored Langford twice before the Boston negro packed the fatal wallop.

While showing here in but very few bouts, Wills is said to have made a big improvement in the past year. His fight here with Battling Jim Johnson was too one-sided to determine whether or not he has improved to any great extent.

Sport writers from the various sections have boosted Wills and fans will see for themselves just how good he is when he meets the most experienced negro fighter in the game at the Howard street arena.

Langford has been fighting for years during which time he has bested some of the best in the heavyweight division. Of late, Wills seems to be the only fighter in his class to give him trouble. Langford has trained hard for this mill and is looked for to put up his best fight against the local negro. Wills has been made the favorite.


1916-01-03 The New Orleans Item (New Orleans, LA) (page 8)

Wills Has Chance To Show He's Best Of All the Heavies

--------

(By Ham.)

The assertion frequently is made that Harry Wills, either now or in a year from now, will be the world's best fighter--in other words, will stand just where Jack Johnson stood just after he defeated Jeffries.

Joe Woodman, manager of Sam Langford, will not admit that Wills has much of a chance to beat Langford in their 20-round fight Monday night, but he does say that in one more year Wills should beat Langford and the rest of the blacks, and he intimates very strongly that he believes Wills, if properly handled, will develop into a better man than Willard.

They have been saying such things about Wills for more than a year. He hasn't developed as rapidly as was expected of him, but now that Jim Buckley, the man who contributed largely to the making of a near-champion out of Gunboat Smith, has him, the New Orleans negro may show surprising improvement over his last fight here, which was with black Jim Johnson.

This Was a Bad One.

That fight, by the way, left a dark brown taste in the mouths of local fans. Johnson was hog fat and had to stall his way through. It takes two to make a fight and Wills had no chance to show anything that night.

Langford will enter the ring considerably to the fat himself, but Sambo has had three experiences with Wills and the last, which was a boxing session of ten rounds, was so much of a Wills nature that Sambo has taken no chance this time, and is said to have trained harder for this engagement than for any in a long time. Sam probably knows he's sliding, and knows that this tall young copper-shade will get him if he is not very careful.

But Sam knows how to be careful. He hasn't been in the game for nothing all these years, beating some of the best men in the ring. He went down five times before Wills in their Los Angeles fight, but Sam was crafty and Wills wasn't and the result was that Wills took the full count in the fourteenth round.

Black Hope Needed?

Many wise fans fight shy of the black squadron, knowing that a lot of stuff has been pulled in the past year that wouldn't bear close scrutiny. Most of it has been in the 10-round no-decision bouts, however, and Wills and Langford showed in Los Angeles what is likely to happen in a longer fight.

Wills has a chance to stop Langford if he keeps a cool head. If he doesn't Langford will stop him again. Either outcome would not be entirely unexpected.

If Langford is knocked out Joe Woodman will have to start a search for a black hope. The only classy negro of the old brigade left besides Langford is McVea, and he is going. Wills would have no real competition as he is the only young one coming up.


1916-01-04 The Daily States (New Orleans, LA) (page 12)

WILLS WINS BLACK TITLE

----------

WILLS BEATS 'BOSTON TAR BABY' FOR BLACK HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

--------

Negroes Fight Fastest Twenty Rounds Seen In An Orleans Ring In Recent Years--Local Negro Is Now Top of His Race.

--------

By COL. CLUKE.

Jess Willard, heavyweight champion of the world, is fortunate Harry Wills of New Orleans and Sambo Langford of Boston are negroes. If they were any other color, the celebrated "wild west hero" would be forced to defend his title against either man with a possibility of being bumped off the Queensberry throne.

In earning a twenty-round decision over Langford Monday night at the Howard-street arena, Wills convinced a majority of the big assemblage he is championship material. Langford, too, showed himself a great fighter, for in keeping Wills busy from start to finish, the defeated negro put up a very creditable scrap.

The black men, contrary to the word passed down the line, "who's turn is it?" gave a corking-good crowd a run for its money. It is doubtful if any heavyweight scrap of recent years measured up to it for speed. And as for the blows traded, something more than a wallop is necessary to put Sambo down for the count of ten.

With the possible exception of the twelfth when Sambo tried every trick he knew to ease the dreamland wallop over and had Wills worried, and in the eighteenth, Wills sending the Boston black to his corner partly groggy, there was not the least semblance of a knockdown.

Wills Loses Head When He Is Hurt.

Wills, however, is an improved fighter. He lacks experience to cope with a man of Langford's ability. His biggest fault is the same as when he fought McVey, losing his head when hurt. Langford peppered Wills with slashing rights and lefts to the jaw at different periods and in almost every instance, the native black opened up and narrowly escaped the deciding swing.

For the first ten rounds, and it is doubtful if two middleweights could have gone the same pace as the negroes, Wills, because of his advantage in height and reach, stabbed Langford with a left jab, using his right at times for a cross and hooking it to the wind. Wills showed a variety of punches that if used by Willard or some other fighter, would make him the best touted man in the heavyweight division.

In the second half of the scrap, though a trifle slower, excelled any black bout staged here in the past four years. Langford realized his only chance to earn the decision was by dropping his opponent to the cloth and the Tar Baby began a systematic attack, loafing one round and cutting loose with everything he had in the next.

Wills Shows Respect For Sambo's Left.

Wills continually retreated during the twenty periods and in the closing number hardly tried to land a blow. The local negro was also guilty of an unusual lot of holding, especially in the last half of the mill. Another referee would have probably penalized him for these tactics. It was evident throughout that Wills had a lot of respect for Langford's left, as every time the men locked, Harry tucked Sambo's southpaw lunchhook beneath his arm and held it as tight as if it were in a vise.

Just how much stamina Langford possesses, even though he is supposed to be a "fat old man" who has seen his best days in the ring, isn't difficult to imagine when he assimilated all of Wills' wallops to the midsection and continued to carry the fight to his opponent.

If Sambo is ready for the scrap heap, he surely must have been a great fighter when at his best.

In the preliminary mill, Young Kid Green lost a decision to Eddie Palmer.

According to the announcement made from the ringside, Langford and Wills fought for a $1,000 side bet. The currency posted was in the shape of a check. Tommy Burns handed it over to Wills at the conclusion of the mill.


1916-01-04 The New Orleans Item (New Orleans, LA) (page 8)

Wills Is Another Black Peril to White Heavies

--------

(BY HAM.)

The black squadron has an admiral. Another Jack Johnson has come out of the colored population of Louisiana and boxed himself to the front through the ranks of the Langfords, the Jeannettes and the McVeas--all good ringmen and better than the run of white heavyweights.

One or two of these still may be good enough to win a decision over Harry Wills, but his improvement, as shown in his 20-round victory over Sam Langford Monday night, means eventual command of the situation, and that very soon. He has been beaten by the entire trio of black rivals, but in his last three times out against them he has outboxed McVea in 12 rounds, and outpointed Langford both in ten and in twenty.

Langford has been the best of the negro fighters, Johnson excepted, for a long time, and a decisive victory over him even at this late day is quite enough for the fans of ebony hue in New Orleans and vicinity to rave about.

Will History Repeat?

Such a feat establishes Wills as the best heavyweight in the world, barring Jess Willard, and a little development may soon make him a better man than the white champion.

This comparison may be distasteful to many followers of fighting, but who knows that the time isn't far off when this brown-skinned negro of New Orleans and the giant of Kansas will meet to settle the supremacy of the races just as Jeffries and Johnson did--when the black man won?

It doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination to picture this in the face of ring history that is not seven years old. The then invincible Jeffries retired and bestowed his title on another white man, Tommy Burns, who refereed last night's fight, came along and won it.

How Demands Started.

Burns was a good fighter, but a small man. He would have been a great champion of light heavyweights. Everywhere the fight fans and experts of the game said there lived a better fighter than the champion himself. Eventually Burns agreed to defend his championship against the black man and the black man won.

Then the call for Jeffries to come out of retirement. The title must be restored to the white race. Wasn't Jeffries the real champion, anyway--only in retirement?

Public appeal and the false confidence that has carried nearly all champions to their defeat brought Jeffries out of retirement--but the black man won again. It took a young Lochinvar to come out of the west to restore the title.

Is It the Last?

Jack Johnson's reign was thorn enough in the sides of white men, but it was more odious because of his criminal character. An exile from the United States it was necessary for Willard to meet him in Cuba.

"Well, that's the last. There'll never be another fight between a white man and a negro for the championship," declared the sporting public with great relief from its agony.

Willard declared he would not meet a negro as long as he held the title, and recently when he signed for a championship fight here he demanded that the phrase "any white man" be inserted in the articles.

Let's hope sentiment will always stand as an effective barrier against "mixed fighting." If there should be a return to it for only a few matches there same condition that prevailed when Burns was champion might arise again. Wills probably could beat the Morans and Coffeys, and the fighting world doesn't yet look upon Willard as a great champion.

Wills Sambo's Master.

From the time Wills shot a straight right to Langford's nose in the first round and sent him half-way across the ring until the twentieth round, Wills was master of the situation. There were isolated instances of Langford's superiority, but it would be hard to give the Boston tar baby more than four rounds of the entire twenty.

Though in the early rounds Langford's hitting was the cleaner, and though he carried the fight in the majority of rounds, Wills scored point after point when his shorter opponent was unable to reach him at all. It suited Wills for Langford to carry the battle to him. Inexperience might have led the local negro into many an error had he been compelled to force the fighting.

Sam Can't Put It Over.

Langford had only one effective weapon in his attack, and that was a vicious lightning left hook, which sometimes rocked Wills' head, but more often was dodged or blocked. Wills surprised the ringsiders several times by ducking under this blow, and Langford had trouble measuring it.

The tar baby sacrificed boxing and all else to land a knockout via this punch. He took blow after blow hoping to "get one over." Had he landed half the punches that Wills scored the local negro never could have weathered the 20 rounds.

Wills was content with his boxing, and only now and then traded blow for blow. His long left, which he sometimes used in a sort of corkscrew jab, worried Sambo considerably, but Harry's only drive of any force was his straight right, which would have been more punishing had he not drawn his body from it as he shot it.

There was no lack of speed or action. It was the fastest and best heavyweight fight staged in any New Orleans ring in years.


1916-01-04 The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) (page 11)

HARRY WILLS WINS GREAT BATTLE WITH 'SAMBO' LANGFORD

--------

Local Negro Proves Himself Peer of All Fighters of His Color.

--------

After one of the greatest ring contests ever seen in New Orleans, Harry Wills, local negro heavyweight, was awarded the decision over Sam Langford, of Boston, in twenty rounds at the Tulane Athletic Club last night, and thereby established himself as the peer of all negro heavyweights.

Wills earned eleven of the twenty rounds, while Langford could claim but five. And when the final gong sounded the end of what probably was the fastest heavyweight battle ever held in a roped arena, there was not one of the 4000 spectators that packed the arena who was not of the opinion that the verdict of Referee Tommy Burns was a just one.

None was more convinced of Wills' right to the victory than the veteran fighting machine, Langford, who showed as early as the twelfth round that he realized his only chance of winning lay in a knockout. This frank admission on the part of the great little Boston fighter, coming in the form of a throwing off of all intentions of trying to win on points, was well received by the fans, who appreciated that "Short Sam" was acknowledging that he must win by a knockout or lose.

For twelve rounds Langford used every bit of his remarkable boring-in defense to cover him while he attempted to penetrate Wills' guard, with unsatisfactory results. The giant New Orleans negro was Langford's master at the finer points of the game, and the Boston "Tar Baby," whose experience as a ring gladiator extends through nearly fourteen years, made no attempt to evade the issue by hiding the fact that he knew he was being outpointed.

ALWAYS GOING IN

And it was this willingness on Langford's part to toss aside the chance of getting a draw anyhow by slowing up and making Wills lead, which made the struggle one which long will be remembered by those who saw it. Throughout the entire twenty rounds the Boston negro kept after Wills with bull dog tenacity, forcing the fighting as fast after he dropped his guard as when he was picking off Wills' blows coming in.

At the end of the twenty rounds, Langford was beaten, but not disgraced.

There were no knockdowns, but this must not be taken to mean that there were no hard blows landed. There hardly was a second during the whole contest when mighty blows were not being exchanged, in the clinches, which were few and of short duration, as well as out of them. That there were no knockdowns, can be attributed to the fact that both men were in remarkable condition.

Never did Harry Wills fight as he fought last night. Only once during the whole battle did he appear to be facing defeat. This was in the twelfth round, when Langford shook him up considerably with a stinging left hook and a mighty right cross to the jaw, causing Wills' knees to sag.

Outside of that spell, however, the local heavyweight seemed one of the most confident fighters in the world, and though there were other rounds in which he was bested by his stocky antagonist, he always walked to his corner with the bearing of one who was sure of victory.

Seldom missing his punches, Wills pecked away at Langford's guard in the early rounds, sometimes raining ineffective fusillades on Langford's gloves and arms, but at other times beating down the Easterner's defense and peppering Langford's face with left jabs and hooks and right crosses and uppercuts.

WILLS ALWAYS AT EVENS

While in the clinches and in most of the toe-to-toe bees, Wills held his own in the majority of cases and in some fought the ever-coming Boston negro to a standstill and momentarily checked "Short Sam's" advance.

Langford could have made a better showing if he had cared to wait for Wills to come for him. He could have kept covered for twenty rounds and probably would not have been outpointed so far.

But the Boston negro considered himself champion fighter of the negro heavyweights, and he was out to prove it. He had knocked Wills out once, and he was anxious to show that this victory was no fluke, and though he did not accomplish his end, he at least proved that it was through no fault of his own but solely because in the Wills of last night he met a greatly improved fighter from the Wills he knocked out in fourteen rounds at Los Angeles, and because the Wills of last night proved himself one of the greatest heavyweight fighters the ring has known in recent years.

As has been said, the end of the twelfth round found Langford with a little the worst of things as far as points were concerned, though he had been the aggressor throughout.

At this stage of the game, the Boston "Tar Baby" decided he had waited long enough to begin his real battle.

So he bored in even faster than he did before, only he decided to devote more of his attention to landing blows than to blocking them.

While he did not altogether quit picking off all the dangerous wallops he could, Langford obviously showed that he was out to land a decisive wallop if he had to take a hundred. And right here let it be said that Joe Woodman's veteran battler stopped many a blow with his face during those last eight rounds. His left eye, which had been badly puffed since the early innings, closed altogether in the fourteenth, while his right eye, lips and nose were considerably battered up.

From the thirteenth round on, every move of Langford's was pointed toward one goal--a knockout. His vicious left hooks to the body, and his right and left hooks to the head carried worlds of steam, and once or twice he rocked Wills.

But Wills remained cool and collected, and showed lots of stamina in assimilating Langford's hardest punches, at the same time keeping a volley of left jabs and right crosses in Langford's face as he stepped around and landing many a terrific right swing and uppercut to Langford's kidneys and ribs in the clinches.

So anxious was Langford to turn the tide of battle that as the rounds wore on he became wild, and Wills' advantage stood out in stronger contrast.

Wills enjoyed every physical advantage, being more than a head taller than his opponent, and thereby being able to reach over Langford's shoulder and deal telling blows to Sam's kidneys.

Langford was much faster than when he fought Wills here before, sometimes dancing in like a flash with a left jab to the wind, and with left hooks to the jaw.

Wills weighed about 210 pounds, while Langford scaled in around 190.

The men fought for a side bet of $1000, which was handed to the winner by Tommy Burns after the fight.

1907-11-12 Sam Langford W-PTS20 Young Peter Jackson [Pacific Athletic Club, Naud Junction, Los Angeles, CA, USA]

1907-11-13 Los Angeles Herald (Los Angeles, CA) (page 8)

LANGFORD-JACKSON FIGHT IS A FARCE
--------
SHADY MEN GIVE FIASCO
--------
YELLOW PETER REFUSES TO STAND UP AND SLUG
--------
SAM RUNS BLACK BALTIMORE JACK RABBIT A RACE
--------
Boston Negro Gets Decision After Twenty Rounds of Clinching That Disgusts Enormous House
--------

BY J. G. GRIFFIN

No tragedy, lots of comedy and still more farce marked the initial production of the Jackson-Langford continuous performance company in Los Angeles.

One of the actors, Mistah Langford, is pretty fair, and gained the plaudits of the crowd--as well as Referee Eyton's decision--but as for Mistah Jackson--whew! To the incinerator with such!

Contrary to all expectations a large crowd turned out at Uncle Tom's cabin to see what proved to be one of the rottenest cards, at least so far as the main event went, that has ever been pulled off, even there. The preliminaries, both of them good, saved the day, for the windup was not worth watching.

Peter Holds On

To begin with, Jackson crabbed it for the entire distance. Out of the sixty minutes of action in the ring it's a cinch bet that Young Peter dogged it for fifty-eight of them, and tried with wild and ineffectual swings for the other two.

Langford would stand off at long range and pepper away at Peter's head and body, usually landing. The blows did not hurt Jackson such an awful lot, and he kept in close, endeavoring to wear Sam down with body blows delivered in the clinches.

From beginning to end Pete stalled along and only in the clinches did he make any endeavor to use his arms. A few times he shot out with wild swings which Langford easily evaded, and the half a dozen real clean punches of the battle (?) were for the most part shot in by Samuel.

Just to show how fight hungry the town is, a crowd that packed the big pavilion to the roof turned out and spent the time during the main event in hooting the boxers and yelling for Langford. Peter's several attempts to claim a foul were greeted with more than groans, and ll Eyton had to do at the end of the twentieth round was to grab Langford's mitt in token of victory.

Both Preliminaries Hot

To drop the frosty part of the program for a while, the preliminaries should be mentioned, as both of them were all to the tobasco. Jimmy Royle and Roy Rogers fought a fast six-round go to a draw and Young Terry McGovern upheld Tom McCarey's opinion of his ability by making Harry Dunn stop in the tenth and last round.

The McGov-Dunn contest was one real affair, with honors resting slightly with McGov nearly all the way. Dunn is a good enough boy with a perfect build and a machine-like mouth that chewed gum even up to the time McGov landed him helpless on the ropes. His seconds slipped over a piece of lemon in lieu of a sponge and the show ended right near the close.

Dunn a Whirlwind

Dunn started out like a whirlwind and nearly pushed McGov through the ropes in the second spasm. The newcomer's infighting was all the candy, and he had McGov guessing a little, until the latter warmed up toward the end of the second.

The third was something fierce, both boys going their fastest. Dunn was tired, but awfully willing, and together with McGov he provided the best round of fighting that has been seen here in a long time. Young Terry ripped his glove at the wrist, and every time he sent one over, the ring was strewn with a deluge of hair.

Things began to slow up a little in the fourth, and McGov slipped one over to the beak that opened the member up a bit. The fifth was also a little tame, and in the sixth McGov stalled until almost the end, all of which got him nothing.

Young Terry tincanned a bit in the seventh, but opened up in the spasm following and floored Dunn with a series of punches to the head. Harry was bewildered, but game, and stalled off the inevitable until the bell sent the lads to the corners.

The ninth was fast enough to suit any of them, and Terry shot one over on the jaw that loosened up the gum chewing molars. In the tenth he tore in like a little cyclone, and had Dunn groggy almost at the start.

Asleep on the Ropes

The new boy leaned over on the ropes and didn't know whether he was asleep or on horseback, and his seconds had sense enough to throw in a piece of lemon, which did for a sponge.

Jimmy Royle and Joe Rogers opened the evening's program, and it must have been that sympathy favored the little fellow. Rogers outweighed him at least ten pounds, and had all the best of it in reach, but Jimmy was there to take a beating, even after he had been floored with a bad wallop on the jaw right in the opening round.

Royle came back stronger as the fight progressed, and in the fifth he opened up and had all the best of it. His gameness stood him in good stead, for the last two rounds were all his and Tommy Walsh rendered a draw decision, which was a little to the horseshoe for Jimmy.

Abe Again Advertises

In between the preliminaries and the so called big show the Abe Attell publicity department was put on and gave an exhibition. Kid Farmer crawled into the ring first, and challenged George Memsic (by request), to meet at 138 at 3 o'clock on the day of the fight. Georgie followed and declared his willingness to meet anyone in the business at 133 pounds, and then Attell came along and offered to fight George at 133 if the latter would first meet Farmer at 138. Memsic wisely refrained from biting at the bait, and there was nothing doing along the lines of a match.

Dingles' Fight Rotten

It's a shame to waste paper on the Jackson-Langford farce, so a brief summary will suffice. The mill opened with a rush, Young Peter breaking into a clinch and whanging away with both hands at the kidneys. Sam showed his skill at the long range work, while Peter lined up well in the close stuff.

Sam feinted Peter open in the second, and shot over a right to the bread basket that did Pete no good. A few jabs also helped some, and it was an easy Langford round. In the third Pete broke fast, and swung both arms like a windmill, but the only damage done was a cut on Langford's lip. Sam jabbed back with a will, and there was nothing really exciting recorded.

The fourth and fifth were the same, except that in the latter Pete went wrong again, and Sam was forced to stick around close to keep from falling into a haymaker. Sam kept his opponent open in the sixth and kept his long left going fast, keeping it up in the seventh. Sam's shanty, the foundation for which was laid in the fourth round, rose rapidly in this period, and toward the end his left lamp was nearly closed.

Eyton Interferes

Charlie Eyton had been separating the men without going between them up to the eighth, but at last he was forced to get busy and push the dingles apart in order to let them to break. The crowd began hooting at this stage of the game, for Jackson had developed a lovely case of stall.

More hoots followed in the ninth, and when his seconds began wiping Langford off with the national colors at the end of the round there was a small sized riot under way. The tenth was a good fast round, and Pete was hanging on to keep from being punished too severely in the eleventh.

The covering tactics were resorted to by Jackson again in the twelfth, but along toward the middle of the spasm he tore loose and tried with wild swings. Sam slipped over a hard right to the head, but no real damage was done. Pete started the thirteenth like he meant business, but a few jabs caused him to cover again.

Pete Tries for Knockout

Pete caught Langford under the chin with his elbow in the fourteenth and swung him over to the mat, trying his best to land a knockout as Sam went down.

In the fifteenth, Pete backed into a corner and drew Langford after him, but it got Jackson nothing, as Sam stood off and peppered him. More howls greeted the sixteenth, and Pete kept on trying to finish it with a punch in tho following act. He landed several neat blows, but they did no great amount of damage, and all Langford had to do was to keep on with his long range work, and protect his body in the clinches.

Hosts Greet Stall

Pete's elbow work in the eighteenth was something rich, and when he commenced to stall the hoots from all parts of the house were renewed. In the nineteenth, Langford landed the real punch of the fight, when he feinted Peter opened and shot over a terrific right to the stomach. Sam kept after his man and Pete bent low, trying to make Eyton think that a foul had been committed.

The windup was about the same, with Pete bleeding profusely from the lips. Sam worked his shift to advantage, and Pete was rather the worse for wear at the end of the putrid battle.

The way things came out is no more than was expected. All along The Herald has contended that the fight as a fight would not amount to much, and this opinion was more than justified by the way things went.

Langford a Good Fighter

One thing determined, however, is that Langford is a fighter who can make a whole lot of the white light heavies sit up and take notice. He did not have much chance to display his skill for Jackson stalled too much, but any time Sammy starts he is sure to have a large following among the local sports.


1907-11-13 The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA) (page I6)

BLACK TURNS YELLOW.
--------
SAM LANGFORD SHOWS CLASS.
--------
Whips Young Peter Jackson in Twenty Rounds.
--------
Outboxed and Outfights the Baltimore Negro.
--------
Young McGovern Meets Tartar, but Finally Wins.
--------

Sam Langford made Young Peter Jackson “quit” in their twenty-round fight before the Pacific Athletic Club last night, and incidentally showed himself to be one of the classiest all-around fighters in the ring today.

Jackson never had a show, and not once did he deliver a blow that hurt the Boston black. Long before the bout was concluded Peter was stalling and in the last three rounds, he quit dead, and simply stayed the limit because he was able to assimilate all the punishment Langford handed to him.

Langford did all the forcing and showed a willingness to fight at all times. Jackson tried to play foxy through three-fourths of the battle, and while covering up, kept the crowd in expectancy for a rally at the proper time when he should catch the Boston darky off his guard. But Langford was too clever a boxer, and too good a ring general to leave the opening, and meanwhile Jackson took an awful walloping.

Toward the end of the fight the punishment began to tell; and Jackson cast about for some more serviceable way to protect himself than by covering. Langford had found all the holes in his defense, and picked the spots with unerring judgment. Then Peter began to back up and walk away, and force himself into a clinch. He even attempted to induce the referee to believe that some of the hard left swings Langford sent into his stomach landed foul, but the blows were clean and the bluff did not go either with the crowd or the referee.

CLAIMED FOUL.

Eyton cautioned Jackson to do better work and openly laughed at his claims of foul. Jackson attempted several rallies but his stamina was gone, and in the last round Langford had him very weak and bleeding badly at the mouth. Sam did not lose sight of the fact, however, that Jackson is dangerous at all times if an opening shows itself, and played the game safe, being content with a decision.

The crowd did not take kindly to Jackson’s style of fighting in the last half of the battle, and hooted him roundly. Many began to leave the hall, as Langford had such a wide margin that nothing short of a knock-out would have lost him the decision, while Jackson had shown almost certain inability to accomplish the trick.

Langford caught the crowd with his clean, effective work. He is a two-handed fighter, with a punch in either hand and enough cleverness to protect himself in the clinches or at long range. He amply justified Eddie Keevin's efforts for nearly a year to get him on before McCarey's club, and showed that none of the white boys have any business with him.

Jackson's friends claim that it is his style of fighting to continue to cover up and stall until he finds an opening, but Peter carried it to extremes and the majority of those who saw his fight believe that he quit and refused to fight when he was being walloped.

The fight looked to be the last which these two negroes are to have, being their sixth. Jackson is getting too old, and Langford is ready for bigger game in the championship class. Although Jackson proved to be the stronger and possessed of the harder punch when he allowed himself an attempt at delivery, Langford was by far the classier fighter of the two.

MUCH INFIGHTING.

The men got busy at once and began heavy infighting, at which Langford proved the best, as he landed the greater number of blows, although not as strong as his opponent. Langford was better at protecting himself, as he paid more attention to the direction of his opponent's blows, while Jackson blindly covered and thus left occasional openings which Langford was not slow in finding. He would step back and look for these holes while Jackson covered, and when he picked a place to deliver a blow, he was able to hit with either hand at long or short range with plenty of steam behind the blow.

Jackson was game for half the fight and took enough punishment to suffice for putting out half a dozen white boys. Langford slammed the left to the body or head and crossed over to the head or jaw frequently, but Peter came back for more. Only when he saw his task of winning hopeless, did he slow up and retreat before the attack. Often Langford backed him into a corner and feinted him into an opening. After taking a few punches, Jackson would crouch and force himself into a clinch, when he would attempt to hammer Langford's stomach. But the latter would block the most of them and then drive in hard right or left until Jackson held to protect himself.

Jackson at times tried to overpower his opponent by sheer brute strength, but Langford was clever enough to use his lesser strength to better advantage and always staved off harm.

In the eleventh Langford landed a hard right to the jaw, near the ear, and Jackson showed real signs of weakness. From then on Peter doubled up whenever Langford led, and staggered about the ring while Langford danced about and tried to jab his way into an opening. Often Langford found an opportunity to land one on the ear or jaw and then Jackson's staggering was not caused by attempts to cover up.

It was all Langford thereafter, and the crowd became disgusted with Jackson.

DUNN PROVES TARTAR.

Harry Dunn gave Young McGovern the hardest fight of his life in the second preliminary, and it was not until McGovern finally sent across a hard right to the chin in the tenth, which dazed Dunn, that the local boy was able to win. That blow befuddled Dunn and he was soon at the mercy of the "Slugger." Referee Tommy Walsh stopped the fight when Dunn staggered over against the ropes, unable to see in which direction he was fighting.

The battle was the fiercest ever seen in the ring, and one of the hardest hitting contests between little fellows ever fought. Dunn, who hails from Kansas City, and whose real name is Nebergall, was game to the core and never let up in his fighting. Most of the time he carried the battle to McGovern, and in the clinches walloped the kidneys with his right until McGovern had to be content with protecting himself.

Dunn showed little ability to land his blows clean, and had little defense. Had he been able to land his blows so as to count and to avoid McGovern's hard swings, he had an excellent chance to win.

Reports that Abe Attell had bet heavily on McGovern seemed to be confirmed by the interest the featherweight champion took in the fight. He went into McGovern's corner in the seventh and coached him in desperate fashion. McGovern woke up to the fact that he had a hard task before him when his right overhand swings went wild, and he took on a worried look and fought very earnestly.

The chances are that the battle might have been declared a draw had not McGovern been able to slip across that right to the chin, which enabled him to finish the battle in the last round.

These boys ought to be good for another fast ten-round go under the new ordinance.

GOOD DRAW.

Jimmy Royle and Joe Rogers went six rounds to a draw--very fast for preliminary fighters. Rogers looked eight pounds heavier and much stronger, but Royle made up in cleverness and gameness which he lacked in size and punching powers. Rogers scored a clean knockdown in the first round, but Royle came back strong, and by carefully avoiding as many of Rogers's hay-maker swings as possible, sneaked in enough counters to even things at the end.

1915-07-16 Sam Langford W-TKO1 Jack Thompson [National Athletic Club, Denver, CO, USA]

1915-07-17 The Denver Post (Denver, CO) (page 6)

Joe Woodman's Bone-Crushing Tar Baby Uses 32 Seconds of His Valuable Time in Leading Jack Thompson of Denver to a Delicate Lacing at the National Athletic Club--Two Thousand Fans See Langford in Brief Action

--------

TIME-SAVING DEVICE FOR THAM---HIT 'EM BEFORE THE BELL

--------

BOSTON TAR BABY WALKS IN RING, SMITES, THEN STROLLS OUT AGAIN

--------

Jack Thompson Lasts Thirty-Two Seconds With Joe Woodman's Fighting Wonder--Left Hook Puts Dream Sign on Local Dusky Glove Wielder.

--------

CONCERNING THE LANGFORD-THOMPSON GO

--------

WINNER--Samuel Langford, the Boston Tar Baby.
TIME OF FIGHT--Thity-two seconds.
THE PUNCH THOMPSON CAUGHT--Left hook to jaw, traveling about four inches.
WEIGHT OF LANGFORD--184 pounds.
WEIGHT OF THOMPSON--201 pounds.
SCENE--National Athletic club.
REFEREE--T. J. McDonnell.
NUMBER OF CLEAN BLOWS STRUCK--Langford, 3, Thompson, 1.
FIGHT STOPPED--When Thompson's seconds threw towel in ring after knockdown.
ATTENDANCE--1,980.

--------

(By GENE FOWLER.)

The Black Bulwark crouched slightly. Beneath his skin of night the huge muscles played rhythmically, like the loosely knotted flesh of a jaguar gathering for the spring. One arm warded off a left swing, wheeled by another man of dark hide.

Scarcely had the blow been blocked when a writhing mass of sinew crumpled to the canvas-covered floor. A left hook had turned the trick. Half a minute had elapsed since they first met man to man. Two seconds later a new towel fluttered over the ropes. The black hulk left the ring and the cheering crowd caught a flash of his teeth as he smiled. The other man--well, he stumbled, staggered to his corner, whipped and dazed.

That was all!

Who can describe a flash of lightning! Who can tell you "when" and "where" and "what" when a bolt from the clouds rends a tree that has stood a moment before, strong, perfect and straight--a blow that scatters a score of years or more at your feet?

Sudden Ending of Fight Dazes Startled Fans.

The blow that felled Jack Thompson last night at the National Athletic club came so suddenly, so swiftly, so remarkably perfect, that had anyone other than Sam Langford, the bone crusher, sent it home, many would have cried "Fake!"

Sam Langford calls it his "Pumphandle punch." It drew water to Thompson's eyes. For fully ten seconds after it had found its mark not a sound went up from the crowd. It had come so unexpectedly. It had crept in so ruinously. It was as if the gorilla-chested black man had struck every one in the audience between the eyes. But when the new towel sailed over the arena ropes the mass cheered. However, they would have preferred seeing the combat go further. It was too quick, was this Langford method of ending the fray.

Langford entered the ring at ten minutes past 9. He wore his customary green kimono. Thompson entered immediately after and the fighters examined the tape on one another's hands.

Referee T. J. McDonnell was introduced after the fans had greeted each fighter with cheers and whistles. There were nearly 2,000 persons who sat numbly as the gong rang, for that same good-natured, gentlemanly Langford is a terrible thing to see crossing the ring to meet the enemy.

Tar Baby Forces His Man to Start Backing.

They touched gloves. Langford feinted, his shoulders swinging slightly from side to side and his forearms raised against his biceps, his thumbs flicking his nose (one of his ring habits).

Thompson backed, expecting a blow. Then Thompson, following out instructions of his seconds to "get close and hold 'im tight," worked to close range, meanwhile trying to land with his right. Langford blocked two attempts to the ear.

Langford pushed Thompson away easily. Thompson towered above the broad-shouldered "Tham," who worked a right cross on Thompson's neck. It stung Thompson, but did no apparent damage. Thompson led with his left. Langford quickly blocked it and in doing so brought his own left into action, snapping his famous hook to Thompson's chin. The blow couldn't have traveled more than four or five inches. It was delivered without apparent effort.

Thompson flopped, face downward, like a man who had been clubbed on the back of his head. He tossed spasmodically and crawled in paralyzed strides four feet from the spot which had caught his fall. He barely reached his feet at the count of ten. He was unconscious even then, his fighting instinct alone pulling him upright.

Langford Refrained From Rough Tactics.

Langford could have put him down again, but was afraid of hurting him, he afterwards said in his dressing room. Thompson reeled against the ropes on the footlights side of the ring, his arms almost dangling and his belly uncovered. Instead of delivering a cruel whip to the stomach, Langford, gentleman and sportsman that he is, hit Jack flush in the body with his right, declining to use his full power in doing so. At this juncture, Thompson's seconds threw in the towel and the fight was over. Thompson half tumbled thru the ropes.

Langford made approximately $1,000 in those 32 seconds of fighting.

"I'm awful glad they threw in that towel," said Sam as he was being rubbed down by his trainer, Kid Goodman. "When he was hanging on the ropes I could have struck him a terrible blow, but I was afraid of killing him, and I know the people out here want to see the game run on a clean basis.

"I could have let him stay a round or two and boxed with him, but I was paid to come here and fight and I merely did my duty. If I had let him go with me, the people would have said I was stalling. They paid to see me fight and I did all I could. And you never can tell about these fights. It looked easy to knock this boy out, but he was a tough fellow and if I had let him stay, he might have walloped me a few, for he can hit and is by no means a dub. A lot of good men have been knocked out in a round, and our little bout tonight can't be knocked because it lasted only half a minute.

Tham Likes Denver and Fans Hereabouts.

"The people of Denver are most mighty fine persons. They have treated me like a gentleman and some time soon I hope to return to fight any man in the world here. I know I will please them for I like them one and all. I like the air here. Some fighters have said the altitude bothers them here but the only way it bothered me was to give me a terrible big appetite."

In the four round preliminary, Kid Estes, with a rugged system of administering punishment, stowed away Young Mandot of New Orleans in the first round. The semi-windup brought Young Hanlon and Wallace Preston together in a scheduled eight round bout. Hanlon lowered Preston's colors in the third round. Preston showed gameness and also hit hard, but could not stand up under the batterings of Hanlon.

The Langford-Thompson fight was to have gone fifteen rounds. Battling Wells, who meets Jack Torres at the National Athletic club in a fifteen-round go July 30 was introduced.


1915-07-17 Colorado Springs Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO) (page 8)

LANGFORD LANDS K. O. IN 30 SECONDS OF SCHEDULED 15 RDS.

--------

Boston Tar Baby Makes New World's Record for Quietus

--------

DENVER, July 16.--Sam Langford, Boston negro heavyweight, knocked out Jack Thompson, a local negro boxer, in the first 30 seconds of their scheduled 15-round bout here tonight. A short right punch to the jaw, preceded by a left poke to the face, sent Thompson down for the count.

In disposing of Thompson in what is considered nearly record time, Langford exceeded his previous fast when he knocked out Matt Dewey at Cheyenne, Wyo., in a bout five years ago in less than two minutes. At that time the Boston heavyweight explained that he "had to catch a train."

After tonight's bout, he explained to those about him that he would not leave here until tomorrow, adding:

"If I had been in a hurry, I think I could have broken the world's knockout record."

Thompson was rushed off his guard at the tap of the gong and did not succeed in landing a blow.

1913-11-17 Gunboat Smith W-PTS12 Sam Langford [Atlas Athletic Association, Boston, MA, USA]

1913-11-18 Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH) (pages 9-10)

SMITH GIVEN THE VERDICT

--------

Gunboat Gets Decision Over Sam Langford in Twelve Rounds.

--------

Large Crowd Sees White Hope Give Opponent Beating at Boston.

--------

Three Preliminary Events All End Before Time Limit With K. O.

--------

BY PLAIN DEALER'S LEASED WIRE.

BOSTON, Nov. 17.--Gunboat Smith outpointed Sam Langford in their twelve-round affair at the Atlas club tonight, and Referee Dick Fleming gave him the decision. Smith fought hard after the first few rounds, and in the fifth opened his opponent's left eye. There was no knock-down during the bout.

Smith's tactics were to hold off his man with left hand jabs then swing with his right. Langford had a slight advantage in the sixth round and had altogether the better of the eighth and eleventh.

In the second, fourth, fifth, tenth, and twelfth, honors appeared to be even. Unsuccessful attempts were made during the afternoon by an attorney, said to represent B. H. Benton, to induce the authorities to forbid the meeting on the ground that the fight was not to be on the square.

Every seat in the big club house was taken by sports from all over the country. A large delegation of New York fans were present and occupied boxes and ringside seats. Both men were in excellent shape. Dick Fleming was the referee.

Round 1.--Langford started in by taking the aggressive and tried for the body with right. Smith swung three lefts to the face without a return. Smith then scored with a right and left to head. Langford tried a right hook to head, but missed. Smith put left on Langford's mouth. Langford shot left to mouth and then put light left to body. Smith jabbed face with left and then got to body with a stiff right. They mixed it up for a second with Smith getting a series of good rights to the body.

Round 2.--Langford came up very cautious. Smith shot in several short jabs to the face with left. Smith then hit head hard with right. Langford swung viciously with right for head but was blocked cleverly by Smith. Langford's judgment of distance was bad and Smith played a tattoo on body and face with rights and left. Langford swung lightly to head. Smith uppercut face with right and then sent left jab to face and a hard right to face.

Round 3.--Langford started right and scored with a terrific left to the jaw which shook Smith up. Smith continually jabbed face with left. Smith missed a hard right swing for Sam's head. Langford seemed to be unable to penetrate Smith's guard and the New Yorker kept jabbing the face and forced Langford to break ground. Langford put light left and right to body. Smith crossed hard on Langford's jaw which rocked the tar baby.

Round 4--Langford came up full of fight and scored left and right to body. Smith sent in left jabs and kept Langford off by continually scoring with a left hand jab. Langford crossed with right which shook up the Gunboat and in a hard mix-up Langford had the best of the argument. Close infighting followed with Langford having the best of it. Langford showed up best in the close infighting and showed up better in this round than any of the others and had a big margin over Smith.

Round 5--The round opened with Langford sending a hard right to the jaw and then putting a right to Smith's left eye, closing it. Langford missed a vicious left hook for the head, but managed to score on Smith's injured eye, making an ugly gash. Smith fought back gamely, and scored six times before Langford could get out of the way of his left jabs. These jabs put Langford on the defensive. Sam with a hard right hit the body.

Round 6--They both rushed to the center of the ring and mixed it up fiercely. Langford showed up well in the mix-up. Sam sent hard right to the head and body, but failed to harm Smith, who came back at him with his old jabbing game. Smith sent in a stinging right to head. Smith then sent in a few more good left jabs and got to the body with right and left swings. He had Langford tired at the bell.

Round 7--Smith missed a wicked right hook for head and Langford countered him in midsection. Smith sent in two good lefts to the face and forced Langford to the ropes, where he had to steady himself, but Smith did not follow up this advantage. Langford made several futile attempts to land, but Smith walked away. Smith played on Langford's face with left jabs at will. The round closed with Smith sending a vicious right to the ribs. Langford went to his corner very tired.

Round 8--Smith started in before Langford had a chance to get his hands up and scored with a volley of lefts to the face. Langford became desperate and crowded Smith over to his own corner and missed left and right swings. Coming back from the ropes, Smith caught Sam on the face with left and then sent a right cross to Sam's head.

Round 9--At the opening Smith went to the front with a little spurt. He tried a double left to the body and face and missed right for the head. The force of this swing almost sent him headlong in the ring. Langford did much fighting in this round and tried to coax Smith into a lead, but the Gunboat kept jabbing him and Smith retired with the round in his favor.

Round 10--Langford came back with a burst of speed, but it was short-lived, as a few lefthand jabs sent him back again on the defensive. Langford blocked all of Smith's punches, and swung with his arms and shoulders, which, had any of them landed, would have sent Sam to the floor. Smith jabbed face with left and sent right lightly to head. Langford sent right to the body.

Round 11--Langford made a desperate rally in this round, but Gunboat was ready to meet him at his own game. Langford swung hard right and left for the head and body, but Smith walked away and then ducked most of Langford's leads. Gunboat sent in a volley of backhand punches to Langford's jaw. Langford then braced and scored heavily on body and jaw, and then put hard right to the nose, which drew claret.

Round 12.--As they came to the center they barely shook hands. Smith shook up Langford with a hard left on the face that carried the tremendous weight behind it and staggered Langford. Smith followed up his advantage with a fusillade of hard rights and lefts but they did not land, as Langford cleverly blocked with his elbows and shoulders. Near the close of the round a general mix-up followed with the fastest fighting seen during the contest, Smith scoring often. Langford went to his corner a very tired boxer with Smith in fresh condition. Referee Fleming gave Smith the decision.

In the first bout Dave Powers defeated Tommy Dowd in the fifth round by the knock-out route in a whirlwind fight.

The second bout was scheduled to go six rounds between Walter Butler of Revere, Mass., and Young Cunningham of Scotland. Butler knocked Cunningham out in the second round.

The semi-final between Freddie Duffy of Jamaica Plain, Mass., and Eddie Flynn of Lynn, Mass., which was scheduled to go eight rounds, ended in the fifth round, Duffy knocking Flynn out with a hard right to the jaw.


1913-11-18 New-York Tribune (New York, NY) (page 11)

SMITH BEATS LANGFORD
--------
Has Better of It in Slashing Twelve-Round Bout.

[By Telegraph to The Tribune.]

Boston. Nov. 17. -"Gunboat" Smith won his right to first consideration in the ranks of the heavyweight boxers by decisively outpointing Sam Langford in a hard twelve-round contest here to-night. When Dick Fleming, the referee, raised Smith's glove after the final round there was not a dissenting voice in the house. The white man had the better of eleven out of the twelve rounds, and went to his corner comparatively fresh, while Langford, once rated mightiest of the mighty, was badly used up.

Smith's boxing was a revelation to all. He shelved that wild, right hand swing, which would certainly have made him an open target for the sledge hammer counters of Langford, and, standing off at long range, worked a left hand jab and hook to the head which popped through the black warrior's guard, forcing him to break ground.

Langford was not on the receiving end at all times, however. At intervals he fought fiercely, and well. His right hand thudded home to the body and head, but Smith, perfectly conditioned for the fray, took the blows without wincing. In the fifth round Langford closed Smith's eye with a hard right swing, but he paid dearly for the privilege, as Smith cut loose.

In the closing rounds Langford rallied, but be was never able to cut down the lead Smith had piled up in the early rounds.


1913-11-18 The Boston Journal (Boston, MA) (page 8)

LANGFORD LOSES TO "GUNBOAT"
--------
Bout Cause of Much Talk. Langford Fat
--------
SMITH WON BY STICKING OUT HIS LEFT MIT
--------
Langford Failed to use His Own Left Hand as He Usually Does.
--------
DOUBTS THAT BOUT WAS ON THE LEVEL
--------
But Langford Was Hog-fat and Took Considerable Punishment.
--------

By Peter F. Kelley

Gunboat Smith was awarded the decision over Sam Langford at the end of their 12-round bout at the Atlas A. A. last night, and it was Smith's trusty left that held the formidable Tar Baby at bay. Can you imagine a man who outjabbed Joe Gans and Sandy Ferguson being outjabbed so completely that he was all at sea?

Sam could not get near enough to the white man to show the form that has won him renown and prestige in the ring. In only one round, the eleventh, did he show the speed and the hitting powers that ring followers usually have associated with his name.

The contest went the full distance of twelve rounds, and at the end the referee without any hesitation declared Gunboat the winner. Smith was tickled to pieces, and so were his seconds, among them his manager, Jim Buckley. Smith looked tired as the closing round was in progress.

Langford exhibited in his old-time form in the eleventh round only, when he drove Gunboat all around the ring. But he had started his aggressive tactics too late, for Smith was foxy enough not to mix it up with Sam, who looked enraged. In the twelfth Smith felt that he had won, and took more liberty, although not too many chances, for he clinched and held at every opportunity.

All With His Left

Smith fought very carefully and just jabbed with his left so much and so often that he held Langford completely off. It is true that Sam did not take a punch and rush in as he did in days gone by. He seemed outlefted, as if Smith had his number from the very beginning when he started by popping that left on his face.

The Gunner looked in superb shape and was faster than when he fought against Tony Ross. He looked immeasurably better, while Langford was plainly discomfited, if not alarmed, by his inability to get near his quarry, for Sam so considered the Gunboat.

Langford was outpointed for the first four rounds without any if or ends. There wasn't much shade for Smith but there was some. In the fifth Sam did better and the men around the ring said to themselves that Langford had found his footing and his bearing and would hammer the Gunboat down.

But a clog slipped for a few more rounds, and then in the ninth again he had quite an advantage. The two sessions and the eleventh were all that the men who watched the bout closely could give to the colored man.

Always Had a Shade

Smith had a good shade in at least a half dozen rounds. It wasn't big enough in any of these rounds to make Langford look beaten utterly, but it was enough to make Sam look distressed and worried, while correspondingly Smith became confident more and more, but not unduly excited. The progress of the battle did not make the white man too nervous. He held himself in check all the time and was very cool.

Evidently he fought on a carefully arranged plan to jab continually and continuously with the left, and when a good opportunity presented itself to send the right across for the jaw. For seven rounds Smith stood up straight, with his head back out of the way of Langford's left, and he backed, backed, backed away, making Langford come in, but only to find himself against a left hand stuck in his face.

Adopted a Crouch

In the last few rounds Smith assumed a more crouching attitude because Langford was trying to beat down his guard by attack with the left for the body, the abdomen being his objective point. But even at that, the Gunboat never rushed his man, never got too conceited; and, while he was a bit crouched, it was far from the stoop used so effectively by Jim Jeffries some years ago.

The decision was received with favor. That may be natural, considering that Smith is a white man and Sam colored. Toward the end, Langford almost earned a draw, but unquestionably Dick Fleming's decision was right.

Langford did come in the last of the bout, but he did not have any too much advantage in the closing session, when he threw caution to the winds, and Smith took advantage of several openings to whip the right across onto his jaw.

There was a tremendous crowd present. It looked at least as if 7500 persons were looking on, and men in all walks of life, judges and jurists, business men and bankers, actors and "sports," politicians and city and State officials were cheek-by-jowl.

A description of the contest would be really repetition in most instances, for it was the futile attempt of Sam to swing his powerful left so that he could make the Gunboat squirm. But he was frustrated at almost every attempt.

Smith was first in the ring and was attended by Jim Buckley, Al Kubiak, Harry Edels and George Freeman while behind Langford were Bob Armstrong, George Byers, John Davis and Pete Walker, all colored men. Langford was resplendent in his green and yellow figured kimono.

Sam looked fat above the waist line, wearing a broad, high stomacher. He was fully six inches shorter than Smith when they went to the middle of the ring for their instructions, and this disparity appeared even more pronounced as they boxed with only the referee near them. Sam did not look unduly fat, but he was in much better condition than in his other bout here. Smith was supposed to weigh about 181 or 182, while Langford, with his tremendous shoulders looked about 195.

But Sam wasn't the supple, the athletic, the sturdy Langford we have seen in better days. His legs did not look so bulky, but he didn't have the elasticity, that resiliency, that quickness of motion, that was his great characteristic. He tried to swing around a few times for shifts, but he couldn't make the quick turn.

Of course you can't convince some that Langford was beaten. They will tell you he pulled so as to get Smith in a long distance bout for the championship and a big purse, but while he may not have boxed as wickedly and as viciously as he did against Jim Barry, he found himself years older and also against a man who fought him just as he should be fought.

Jimmy Walsh, who ought to know Langford, sat close to the ringside and even before the bout had gone two rounds admitted that it wasn't the Sam of old who was making the contest. Sam missed too many times to make Jimmy think he was the old standby.

What Fleming Saw

Sam may not have been trying, but if he wasn't on the level he was badly fooled. He may have looked for a draw but the decision went against him and almost nine men out of ten agreed with the referee, although maybe not with his full summary. Fleming gave Smith six rounds and Langford two, and possibly three, and the rest even. Fleming even declared that in his opinion that Smith held Langford even in the last round.

There wasn't a knockdown on either side, in fact, nothing like it. At no time was either man groggy. Smith looked weak in the eleventh round when he half reeled back to the ropes, but he quickly recovered.

The Three Knockouts

There were three preliminaries and each was decided by a knockout. Tom Butler defeated Owen Cunningham in two rounds. Dave Powers was floored several times in the first round of his contest with Billy Troy, but managed to weather the storm and finally won on a knockout in five rounds, although the seaman looked as if he could continue. The semi-final between Freddy Duffy of Jamaica Plain and Eddie Flynn of Lynn was won by Duffy in five rounds. Flynn gave a very game exhibition, being sent to the mat at least a half-dozen times.

Before the bout Joe Woodman announced that Sam Langford would sail for Paris on Dec. 2. It is understood that Sam and Joe Jeannette will meet at Paris in a twenty-round bout on Dec. 20.

It is very probable that Smith will go to the Pacific Coast on Friday in company with Tommy Murphy to prepare for the battle with Arthur Pelky at San Francisco on New Year's day.


1913-11-18 The Cleveland Leader (Cleveland, OH) (page 10)

Smith Gets Decision Over Langford, Though Colored Man Is Stronger at End

--------

BOSTON, November 17.--Gunboat Smith, of California, was given the decision over Sam Langford, of Boston, at the end of a twelve-round bout here tonight.

Smith led clearly during the early rounds, scoring repeatedly on left jabs to Langford's head and body, while the Boston negro made no serious attempt at defense.

But as the bout went on Smith, the California heavyweight, wearied, and Langford assumed the aggressive, sending left and right to Smith's body at short range while the latter swung unsuccessfully at Langford's head.

So many and so strong were Langford's blows in the closing rounds that many of the spectators expressed surprise at the decision of Referee Dick Flemming.

Smith at the start jabbed away with his left, supplying nearly all the action. Langford did not seem to be bothered by long-range blows, turning away many without great effort and standing up under others without defense. Occasionally he interjected a right or left on Smith's body, but not until the seventh round did he make any apparent attempt to maintain the battle. Then Langford started a short range fight, which in the eighth round resulted in opening Smith's cheek under the left eye.

Smith, by reputation a strong right-hand fighter, relied on his left jabs throughout. Several attempts to land right swings met with varying success. But his jabs were continuous.

Smith's cheek bled freely as the fight neared the end, the blood getting into his eye and blinding him. He also seemed fatigued, and hung on to his opponent, while Langford, although apparently carrying more weight than at any time in his career, appeared the stronger. Langford escaped unmarked.

Round One.

Langford tried for body with right, while Smith swung three lefts to the face without a return; he then scored left and right to face. Langford missed a right hook to head, and got Smith's left on mouth. Langford shot left to mouth and a short body jab. Smith jabbed face with left and body with right. They mixed it with Smith getting body rights.

Round Two.

Langford started cautiously but received several jabs on face and then a hard right on face. Smith blocked savage swing from right to face, then played a tattoo on Langford. Langford swung to head, while Smith put in a right uppercut, left jab and right blow to face.

Round Three.

Langford scored terrible left to jaw. Smith hit to face several times, but missed right swing for Sam's head. Smith's guard too much for Langford, but he got in right and left to body. Smith responded with a rocking blow to the jaw.

Round Four.

Langford pounded left and right to body. Smith repulsed assault by continual lefts to body, but Sam got in a good right. Close infighting followed, the tar baby having the best of it.

Round Five.

Sam sent hard right to jaw, following it with left, closing Gunboat's eye. Langford then missed left hook for head, but landed again on the injured optic, cutting a gash. Smith gamely scored six times with his left before Sam could get away. Sam closed with a right to body.

Round Six.

Both rushed to center and mixed fiercely, Sam showing well. Langford sent hard right to body and head, but did no damage, Smith coming back with a stiff jab and a stinging right to head. Smith then put in some more jabs and a left and right swing. Sam was tired at the end.

Round Seven.

Smith missed a right hook to head, Sam countering to midsection. Smith placed left jabs to face, forcing Langford to the ropes. Smith did not follow as Langford steadied himself. Langford tried to land but failed, Smith playing with him at will. Smith sent a vicious right to ribs, sending Sam to his corner very fatigued.

Round Eight.

Smith, starting like a whirlwind, fired a volley of lefts to face. Langford, desperate, crowded Smith to his corner, but missed right and left swings. Coming back, Smith's left caught Sam's face while his right pounded his head.

Round Nine.

Smith went to the center with a spurt, trying a double left to body and head and missing a right for the head. The force of the swing almost floored him. Langford fought hard, trying to coax Smith to lead, but Gunboat kept jabbing and the round ended in Gunboat's favor.

Round Ten.

Langford came back strong in the tenth, but his spurt did not last long, as left jabs from the Gunboat again put him on the defensive. Sam then swung wildly with both lefts and rights, swings so vicious, that had they landed would have put out his opponent. Smith sent some left jabs to the colored man's face and Langford closed the round with a right to the body.

Round Eleven.

Again Langford started out with a rush and again the Californian was ready to meet him. Langford swung with rights and lefts at Smith's head but the Gunboat cleverly ducked and walked away. Smith sent in some telling backhand slaps at Langford's jaw, but here the colored fighter seemed to revive and landed heavily on the Westerner's jaw and face. He landed on Smith's jaw, drawing blood, as the bell rang.

Round Twelve.

The fighters barely touched hands as they came to the center. Smith jolted Langford with a left on the face that staggered the dusky fighter, and followed his advantage with hard rights and lefts, but Sam cleverly blocked the fusillade with his elbows and shoulders. Near the close came the fastest fighting of the grill, Smith scoring often. Langford went to his corner very tired, with Smith very fresh. Referee Fleming gave the decision to Smith.


1913-11-18 The Evening Times (Pawtucket, RI) (page 6)

SMITH'S JABS DECIDE BOUT
--------
Lanky Californian Fighter Delights 6000 Fans By Outpointing Sam Langford
--------
VICTORY IS WELL EARNED.
--------
Gunboat Has Edge on Dusky Boston Terror in Six Rounds--Langford Slow.
--------
HIS OLD PUNCH LACKING.
--------

(By Staff Correspondent.)

BOSTON, Nov. 18.--Ceaselessly pumping his left to Sam Langford's face and occasionally crossing a right to the jaw, Gunboat Smith of California, the champion white hope, climbed a few rungs on the pugilistic ladder at the Atlas A. A. here last evening by defeating the Boston "Tar Baby" on points in their 12-round bout. Though the majority of the 6000 spectators went wild with delight over the manner in which Smith outpointed the burly negro, rated, with Johnson out of the country, the best heavyweight in America, the referee's decision must have given some of the wise ones a severe pain about the region of the pocketbook, for Langford entered the ring a top-heavy favorite at odds of 3 to 1.

There was no question about the merit of the award, however. Smith had at least six rounds on points, and although Langford forced the pace the Boston fighter was unable to land effectively more than three or four times and had a margin, in but two months. Smith's lefts carried no great weight with them, but he fairly showered them upon the negro's face, and while they rattled harmlessly off Langford's rounded skull they were all points that enabled the lanky and shifty Californian to carry off the victory. There were no knockdowns, in fact, seldom was either man staggered, but it was a hard, earnest battle from gong to gong, and there wasn't a man jack of the spectators who didn't keep his eyes glued on the big battlers in expectation of a decisive wallop, for both Smith and Langford are hard hitters.

Admittedly, it was not the real Langford whom Smith faced last night. Had it not been for the fact that the "wise" money was down on Langford at big odds the bout might have looked queer, for Sambo was not the neat puncher of days of yore. His blows lacked snap and he allowed himself to be jabbed all around the ring by Smith without a return, although there was a time when Langford, despite his short reach, could jab with anybody.

Langford advanced constantly throughout the bout, driving Smith around the ring, but seldom was he able to land consistently, for Smith either beat him to the punch with his left jab, pumping his glove to Langford's face almost feverishly at time, or else bounded into a clinch. When Langford did sink home a good wallop he seemed unable to follow up his lead, for Smith blocked cleverly and tied him up in the clinches. There was no question but what the black boxer was trying, but he has gone way back and the time may not be far distant when he will meet with a more decisive defeat than that at Smith's hands. Last night, after two weeks of hard training, he was still fat, and when the 12th round came it was quite evident that the sound of the gong was not unwelcome.

Mr. Smith Is Cool Customer.

Smith's showing was a pleasant surprise to the big crowd, most of whom were rooting for the white man. He boxed coolly and displayed splendid judgment and footwork. Seldom did he allow himself to deviate from his chosen plan of battle--to keep Langford away with his left and shoot over his right whenever occasion presented. Smith missed some fine chances to score effectively, however, by "pulling" his right. He seemed afraid all the time that Langford was "laying back" for a Garrison finish, an opinion freely expressed around the ringside and discounted when the 12th round saw Langford boxing slower, if anything, than he had in the three sessions previous.

Smith, though the victor, left the ring with signs of battle, while Langford was unscratched. Smith's souvenir was a cut under his left eye that Langford opened up in the fourth round. The wound gave the Californian little or no bother, however, and did not appear to interfere with his sight.

Smith is still some distance from a champion, but he is a shifty chap, awkwardly clever and carries a punch which promises to flatten more than one man before he hangs up the gloves.

Three Hot Prelims.

The main bout was preceded by three of as lively preliminary bouts as anyone would care to see. Walter Butler and Al Cunningham, 125-pound Boston boys, opened the show with a furious little scrap which ended abruptly in the second round, when, after flooring his man three times, Butler stopped him cold with a right and left to the jaw, Cunningham taking the full count.

--------

Dave Powers and Tommy Dowd, welterweights, put up a bout which started in a sensational manner and ended in a fizzle, for when Dawd, after flooring Powers four times with a savage right swing in the first round, found that he couldn't keep his red-headed opponent down, he dogged along until the fifth round and then quit cold. With Powers several feet away from him, Dowd curled up on the mat and didn't move until Dick Fleming had reeled off full 10 seconds.

Powers got a great hand when he left the ring, for in the first round his chances didn't look worth two pins. Dowd fairly flung himself at his opponent in that furious session and Powers went down four times as if he had been hit by a board. After the second round, however, he kept inside and beat Dowd so steadily with straight punches that the yellow soon commenced to show.

Freddie Duffy of Jamaica Plain was allowed to cruelly punish Eddie Flynn of Lynn in the semi-final. He knocked the Lynn boy cold in the fifth round because Flynn's seconds didn't know enough to throw in the sponge after their man had been beaten to a frazzle. Duffy started Flynn on the chutes in the first round, when he floored him with a neat straight one-two punch. Twice more Flynn went down and was groggy when he went to his corner.

From then on Flynn had no show, and in the fifth round, after he had been beaten to the mat twice by his slashing rival, Duffy knocked him cold with a right uppercut.

Shortly after 9 o'clock Smith entered the ring and was given a great hand. He was accompanied by Jim Buckley, his manager, and Al Kubiak. Sam Langford clambered through the ropes, escorted by four Ethiopian esquires, Bob Armstrong and George Byers being conspicuous members of the retinue. There followed the usual confab and then it was announced that the men would box straight rules. Before the fight Langford was a 3 to 1 shot.

As is the case in many big bouts, there was very little action in the first round.

Smith Pops Over Left.

Langford landed lightly on the body and Smith tapped the negro with several left jabs. In the clinch Langford put over two right hooks, but after that was blocked so well that he could land but seldom. Before the end of the round Smith started jabbing like a piston-rod and had a lead on points at the bell.

Langford tried to get Smith at close quarters in the second round, but Smith was wary and kept dancing around, poking his left against Langford's nose so often that the negro once or twice rubbed it with his glove. Just before the end of the round Smith threw over a hard right hook and went to his corner with the crowd cheering him wildly. It was his round.

The third round saw Smith keeping Langford at a respectful distance by constant use of his left. Several times, too, he just tickled the Boston boxer's jaw with a right that fairly whistled through the air. This also was Smith's round.

Langford worked faster in the fourth, but all he got for his pains was a right which sent him back, and Smith's jabs soon evened the round. Langford had a slight shade in the fifth, as he landed frequently on Smith's eye, which he had cut in the previous session with a hard left, but his margin was slight.

Langford Has Eighth Round.

Smith again led in the sixth round, and the seventh was even, but the eighth saw Langford straighten up Smith several times with uppercuts, and Smith's eye bled profusely. This was Langford's best round, the only one in which he did any real heavy punching.

The ninth was even, the 10th saw Smith dancing around the ring but piling up points, and although Langford tried hard in the 11th and got an even break, Smith closed strongly in the last round and outfought the negro enough to win the honors in the final session. There was wild cheering when Dick Fleming pointed to Smith's corner, signifying that he had won.


1913-11-18 The Evening World (New York, NY) (page 15)

Langford Loses Decision To Smith in 12 Rounds
--------

(Special to The Evening World.)

BOSTON, Mass., Nov. 18.--"Gunboat" Smith looks like a real boxer. Before nearly 7,000 fans last night at the Atlas A. A. he won the award over Sam Langford in their twelve-round bout. The decision was a just one, for only in about three rounds did Langford have the honors.

It was probably the largest crowd of sports that ever watched a bout in this city, and all went away satisfied that Langford had shot his bolt, so far as ever again being considered a good contender for the world's title. He has gone back so far that the fans last night were surprised, for they never realized that the once formidable boxer had retrograded to such an extent.

That he would be defeated by Smith was not dreamed of by most of the fans, who were offering 100 to 25 that Langford would be the winner. Some of the bolder betters were ready to make good wagers that Langford would stop Smith within six rounds. There were few takers of the Smith end.

Smith's heady boxing and his footwork was as big a surprise as Langford's poor showing. No one can say that Langford did not do all he could, for if ever he worked hard to win he did last night. It was Smith's tantalizing left jabs and his right to the jaw that threw Langford off, so that he had hard work getting set or countering.

Smith was in good shape, while Langford still carried a lot of unnecessary fat. Only a few times did Smith forget the plan that had been mapped out for him to follow, and when he did deviate from it he received some wallops that made him shake.

There was not a knockdown in the battle, but at the close both boxers were pretty well tired from their work. Though Langford's punches had much power behind them, Smith had outscored him in every round but the eighth, ninth and eleventh by a big margin.


1913-11-18 The Gazette Times (Pittsburgh, PA) (page 10)

Decision Is Awarded To Gunboat Smith
--------
Californian Whips Sam Langford in a Twelve-Round Bout in Boston.
--------
BATTLE GOES TO THE LIMIT
--------

[By Associated Press to Gazette Times.]

BOSTON, MASS., Nov. 17.--Gunboat Smith sprung a surprise on the fight fans here tonight by outpointing Sam Langford, the big tar baby, who has been hot after Jack Johnson. The go went 12 rounds, Smith and Langford both holding back during the first six rounds. Langford was hog fat and took the defensive. Smith held him off with a stiff left, and swung repeatedly with his right, but the vaunted power of Gunboat's right failed to put Langford in serious distress.

Right at the gong in the first, Smith poked over some quick left jabs that set the pace. During the round he got in two right swings to the jaw, while Langford danced and played shy.

The second was about even in the swap of blows, Gunboat still using his left successfully. Smith had all the better of the third and held his own in the fourth.

First blood came in the fifth when Sam opened up Gunboat's eye. Langford let himself loose, but failed to distress his opponent. Again in the sixth, Langford showed the best work, but in the seventh Smith got busy again and forced Langford to cover up. The eighth and ninth were Langford's, but Smith was putting up a game battle.

Smith put in a hot round in the tenth, swing his right on to the jaw of Langford with but little effect. Langford came back strong in the eleventh and outpointed Smith here.

The final round was even, the two heavyweights showing the best fighting of the evening. Langford was badly winded and after the first few rounds it was apparent he could not knock Smith out. Smith had everything to gain and tore into the colored fighter during the last few rounds. His aggressiveness and speed kept Langford constantly busy. The decision of Dick Fleming, the referee, fell to Smith.


1913-11-18 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, MO) (page 8)

NOT A CHEER FOR THE WINNER.
--------
The Gunboat Smith Decision Was a Regular Boston Verdict.

Boston, Mass., Nov. 18.--In giving Gunboat Smith a decision last night in his bout with Langford, Smith certainly secured what is known as a Boston verdict. When the referee gave the verdict the large crowd present were so taken back that they left the club without even a cheer. Langford was much faster than at any time since his return from Australia, and while not in his best shape, certainly looked more like his old self. Langford left the ring without a mark, while Smith had to be led from the building. Langford wants a return match and will show the sporting world that he is Smith's master. Langford fights in New York City next Monday and then goes to Paris to fill his engagements. Last night's crowd was the largest ever at a boxing contest in Massachusetts.


1913-11-18 The Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, WA) (page 16)

SAM LANGFORD KIDS TOO LONG, SO GUNBOAT SMITH BEATS HIM
--------

Though he was hanging on for dear life at the end of the twelfth round at Boston last night, and despite the fact that he was dog tired and right on the verge of a sound whipping, Gunboat Smith was given the decision over Sam Langford in their twelve-round bout.

Sam was as fat as a prize porker and in the early rounds he planted himself in the middle of the ring and let Smith jab away at him. Some of the blows he tossed off with his arms; the others he took without blinking an eye.

Smith has been touted all along as a hitter; a slugger of the clean-up type, but he was so scared of Langford last night that he stood off at long range and jabbed with his left. His right is his best hand; the blow he uses to drop his opponents, but he was afraid to cut loose with it against Langford last night.

In the last five rounds Smith tired and Sam began to dig into his body with short, savage blows that had steam behind them. Smith does not like that kind of stuff. He turned his back and dogged it from Carl Morris a few weeks ago, making a bluff that he had been hit low, and he had no stomach for the work last night after Sam began to punch in earnest.

Sam occasionally sent a punch to the head and opened up cuts under both of Smith's eyes. The Gunboat was bleeding freely and was hanging on to Sam like a long lost brother at the close of the mill, so naturally the crowd was surprised when Referee Dick Flemming held up Smith's hand as the winner. Sam had simply loafed and kidded too long in the early rounds and the referee remembered the points Smith had piled up with his long left jabs and thought they counted for more than Sam's business-like drives in the closing rounds.

This decision will help Gunboat's record, but it would be hard to make any one who has seen the two men in action believe that the Gunner would have much of a chance with Sam if the squatty negro will take the bout seriously enough to train off some of the fat that is now larding his frame.


1913-11-18 The Sun (New York, NY) (page 8)

LANGFORD TOO SLOW FOR GUNBOAT SMITH
--------
Sailor Wins Decision Over Sam in Twelve Poorly Fought Rounds in Boston.
--------
LEFT JAB MAIN FACTOR
--------
Gunner Uses It Repeatedly to Worry Negro, Though It Does No Damage.
--------

Boston, Nov. 17.--Gunboat Smith won the decision over Sam Langford in a twelve round go at the Atlas A. A. tonight. The bout was a poor one, Langford being slow and Smith so wary that he did his leading at long range and covered up when the pair came in close. The result was a shock to most of the 7,500 who assembled with the expectation of seeing the Tar Baby put an end to the white hope aspirations of the tall youth. It also hurt the feelings of many who felt so sure their favorite would win in easy fashion that they went so far as to bet 2 to 1 on Langford.

Sam looked very well fed and consequently he did not display the speed and vigor that Bostonians have been accustomed to in his encounters of years gone by. Smith fought a defensive battle. He kept away about all the time, refused to open up and evidently had received good advice as to how to tie Langford up when close in. Gunboat used his left very effectively in that it scored points and kept his opponent so busy blocking and ducking that he did not have many opportunities to lead.

Sam tried fruitlessly to back Smith up against the ropes, a favorite line of action by the Boston slugger. Every little time he felt the ropes behind him the sailor stuck his left into Langford's face and got away. The jabs which the white man used were almost countless, and while many of them were blocked those that did land were very light and bothered but did not hurt the dusky boy.

Langford had the better of four rounds, the eighth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth. The others were Smith's by a considerable margin. He hit Sam repeatedly without returns and though he did no damage points were scored. Occasionally Gunboat cracked away at Sam's jaw with his right, but the blows did not hurt. Langford opened Smith's left eye during the fifth and he used the cut for a target during the remainder of the bout.

In the eighth Sam punished Smith quite a little, getting in several left hooks to the jaw. During the eleventh Smith was slowed up by a stiff left, followed by a right to the body, and he retreated. In the final round Gunboat was very tired but he kept his head and stood away sending in his left as a defensive measure.


1913-11-18 The Washington Times (Washington, DC) (page 12)

Langford Is Slipping; Smith Gets Decision
--------

BOSTON, Mass., Nov. 18.--Gunboat Smith, California heavyweight, upset the dope here last night, and beat Sam Langford of Boston in a twelve-round bout, out-pointing him in all but two rounds. The "Tar Baby" was a 10-to-7 favorite, and was in better condition than when he fought Flynn recently, but his aggressive tactics failed to penetrate Smith's defense, except in the eighth and eleventh, when Langford threw science to the winds, and waded in. Even then he couldn't deliver heavily enough. It is conceded today that Langford is slipping back.