How would Jack Johnson versus Joe Louis play out

[Sugarj]

Check out the films. Watch both men extensively and try to look past the flickervision before you scoff!!

[Rockin']

Louis' jab alone would have given Johnson fits. Joe had a superb jab and I don't need to mention the right hand that could have easily followed that jab.

Johnson was a wide swinger, right hook here, left hook there. Louis threw straight shots and would have been serving Johnson straight down the pipe all night long.

I don't see Johnson as a defensive genius as others do. After all, with the crude style that they fought in back then it's really not hard to slip or block the wide punches that were thrown back then, Louis' eyes would pick those wide shots up and he could easily evade them.

Over all Louis would control the fight with his superior jab and ring generalmanship. Johnson stays in constant pursuit but constantly comes up short while rushing in with his wide shots only to be met by Louis' jab and right hands. When Johnson does manage to get inside Louis quickly ties him up

Louis would accept some punishment in the fight but would pull out a unanimous decision by a wide margin over 10 rounds.........Rockin'

[Kid McCoy]

Johnson make it ugly and hard to score for a long time but Louis eventually stops him late.

Poet

That's how I see it too. Johnson would probably make Louis look bad but I think Louis, with his power, handspeed and accuracy, is going to catch up to Jack at some point. Could be a bit like the Walcott rematch.

Jack Blackburn went with Johnson

Out of curiosity, when did Blackburn say that?

[T.Horton]

I would pick Johnson. Physically bigger, defensively a wizard and I am not sure there are more than five or six more intelligent boxers than Johnson....in the "ring IQ" sense.

Of course the chance for Louis to knock him out is always there as well.

[T.Horton]

That's how I see it too. Johnson would probably make Louis look bad but I think Louis, with his power, handspeed and accuracy, is going to catch up to Jack at some point. Could be a bit like the Walcott rematch.



Out of curiosity, when did Blackburn say that?

i read it some where as well....i wish I could remember. lol

[Sugarj]

i read it some where as well....i wish I could remember. lol

I last read it in Gerald Suster's 'Champions of the Ring'. The next paragraph is from that book:

Blackburn declared that much as it pained him to say it, Joe Louis, his beloved fighter, had severe problems with men who could move and so, in his opinion, Jack Johnson could beat Joe Louis every day of the week.

[T.Horton]

I last read it in Gerald Suster's 'Champions of the Ring'. The next paragraph is from that book:

Blackburn declared that much as it pained him to say it, Joe Louis, his beloved fighter, had severe problems with men who could move and so, in his opinion, Jack Johnson could beat Joe Louis every day of the week.

Ha! I have read that several times, it's one that was in the my "office" as reading material for quite a while. Now it's Nigel Collins book: Boxing Babylon.

[Sugarj]

Ha! I have read that several times, it's one that was in the my "office" as reading material for quite a while. Now it's Nigel Collins book: Boxing Babylon.

Scary! I'm currently in my 'office' and that is the only boxing book I have here at the moment!!!

[Kid McCoy]

I last read it in Gerald Suster's 'Champions of the Ring'. The next paragraph is from that book:

Blackburn declared that much as it pained him to say it, Joe Louis, his beloved fighter, had severe problems with men who could move and so, in his opinion, Jack Johnson could beat Joe Louis every day of the week.

I've heard the quote a few times but I wasn't sure if it had ever been traced back to an original source. Does the author give a source?

[Sugarj]

I've heard the quote a few times but I wasn't sure if it had ever been traced back to an original source. Does the author give a source?

I can't see one. I've read this in other books too, possibly 'Crown of Thorns'.

I gather that Blackburn fell out with Johnson over a sparring matter decades before Louis.......and while Blackburn hated Johnson and would have loved to have a charge who he realistically felt would have handled him in the ring, he always held that Johnson was the best defensive boxer he had ever come across.