Sam Langford: Boxing's Greatest Uncrowned Champion - Hardcover

Clay Moyle

4.46

50 ratings by Goodreads

9781934733028: Sam Langford: Boxing's Greatest Uncrowned Champion

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1934733024 ISBN 13: 9781934733028

Publisher: Bennett & Hastings, 2008

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Standing no more than five-feet, seven-inches; tall, Sam Langford was one of the 20th century's greatest fighters. In this biography, his life story is told in great and entertaining detail. Over 100 photographs are included. Sam was a great black prizefighter in an era when the color line was easily cited by white opponents wanting to avoid meeting him in the ring. Ring magazine editor Nat Fleischer ranked Langford among his favorites, stating, 'Sam was endowed with everything. He possessed strength, agility, cleverness, hitting power, a good thinking cap and an abundance of courage. He feared no one. But he had the fatal gift of being too good, and that's why he often had to give away weight in early days and make agreements with opponents. Many of those who agreed to fight him, especially of his own race, wanted an assurance that he would be merciful or insisted on a bout of not more than six rounds.' This biography brings to light Sam Langford's remarkable talents and life.

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About the Author:

Clay Moyle is a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO), created in 1982 for the purpose of establishing an accurate history of boxing and compiling complete and accurate boxing records. He is also a passionate collector of boxing books with over 3,000 titles in his personal collection, many dating back to the 1800's. He lives in Edgewood, Washington.

Review:

Sixty-four years ago, a blind and indigent Sam Langford was rediscovered through an award winning article published in the New York Herald Tribune. Now, in 2008, Clay Moyle 'discovers' Langford anew-in greater depth and with remarkable clarity. In tenaciously applying the forensic skills of a seasoned sports historian and archivist, Moyle plots a stunning tale which is set against the backdrop of the pervasive racial mores of the times in which Langford lived and fought, and in the process reclaims for posterity the life and career of one of boxing's truly great figures. ---Adeyinka Makinde, author of Dick Tiger:The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal

As the title of this book indicates, Sam Langford was, indeed, an 'uncrowned champion'-one of the greatest pound-for-pound pugilists ever to step through the ropes. The only reason Langford never held a world title was that no champion gave him a chance to fight for the crown, even though Sam was eminently qualified. Now, the uncrowned champion has found a champion in Clay Moyle, an eminent boxing historian. This book gives Langford the recognition he has deserved for such a long time. Langford was small in stature, but he was larger than life. He was capable of knocking opponents twice his size colder than a mackerel. Had there been any justice in the world of the early 1900s, Langford would have been champion of the middleweight, light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. Moyle s epic chronicle of Langford s life in and out of the ring redresses the fighter s slide into obscurity during the half-century since his death. The author deftly balances the triumphs and tragedies of this extraordinary man s career. This book is a must-read, from the opening bell to the last. --Charles R. Saunders, author of Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers from the Halifax Forum to Ceasars Palace

With his richly detailed new biography, Clay Moyle has restored the indomitable Sam Langford to his rightful place in the history of American sports -- and demonstrates along the way that Jack Johnson was right when he called Langford 'the toughest little son of a bitch that ever lived. --Geoffrey C. Ward, author of Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

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