Editing Sam Langford (section)

{{short description|Canadian boxer (c.1885–1956)}}
{{for|the baseball player|Sam Langford (baseball)}}
{{Multiple issues|{{Unsourced|section|date=July 2023}}
{{Moresources|section|date=July 2023}}}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox boxer
| name = Sam Langford
| image = Sam Langford 1913 (2).jpg
| caption = Portrait of Sam Langford in 1913
| realname = Samuel Edgar Langford
| nickname = Boston Tar Baby<br />Boston Terror<br />Boston Bonecrusher
| height = {{convert|5|ft|6+1/2|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
| reach = {{convert|74|in|cm|0|abbr=on}}
| weight = {{Plainlist|
* [[Lightweight]]
* [[Welterweight]]
* [[Middleweight]]
* [[Light heavyweight]]
* [[Heavyweight]]}}
| birth_date = March 4, 1886<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/langford-sam-1886-1956/ | title=Sam Langford (1886-1956) • | date=January 21, 2007 }}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Weymouth Falls, Nova Scotia]], Canada
| death_date = January 12, 1956 (age 69)
| death_place = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], US
| style = [[Orthodox stance|Orthodox]]
| total = 314,<ref name="BoxRec: Login">{{Cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/11023|title=BoxRec: Login}}</ref> with the inclusion of [[newspaper decision]]s
| wins = 210
| KO = 126
| losses = 43
| draws = 53
|no contests = 8
}}
'''Samuel Edgar Langford''' (March 4, 1886 – January 12, 1956)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sam Langford |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sam-langford |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref> was a [[Canadian]] [[boxing]] standout of the early part of the 20th century. Called the "Greatest Fighter Nobody Knows", by [[ESPN]],<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/blackhistory2007/news/story?id=2755803 |title=The greatest fighter almost nobody knows |work=ESPN |date=February 7, 2007 |first=Kieran |last=Mulvaney }}</ref> Langford is considered by many boxing historians to be one of the greatest fighters of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://coxscorner.tripod.com/langford.html|title=Sam Langford, the Boston Terror}}</ref> Originally from [[Weymouth, Nova Scotia|Weymouth Falls]], a small community in [[Nova Scotia]], he was known as "'''the Boston Bonecrusher'''", "'''the Boston Terror'''", and his most famous nickname, "'''the Boston Tar Baby'''". Langford stood {{convert|5|ft|6+1/2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} and weighed {{convert|185|lb|kg|abbr=on}} in his prime. He fought from [[lightweight]] to [[heavyweight]] and defeated many world champions and legends of the time in each weight class. Considered a devastating puncher even at heavyweight, Langford was rated No.&nbsp;2 by ''[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]]'' on their list of "100 greatest punchers of all time". One boxing historian described Langford as "experienced as a heavyweight [[James Toney]] with the punching power of [[Mike Tyson]]".

He was denied a shot at many World Championships, due to the [[Racial segregation|colour bar]] and by the refusal of [[Jack Johnson (boxer)|Jack Johnson]], the first [[African Americans|African-American]] World [[Heavyweight]] Champion, to fight him in a rematch. Langford was the [[World Colored Heavyweight Championship|World Colored Heavyweight Champion]], a title vacated by Johnson after he won the World Championship, a record five times. Alongside this, Langford also defeated the reigning [[Lightweight]] Champion [[Joe Gans]], the first African-American World Champion in boxing history and widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, in a non-title bout. Many boxing [[Fan (person)|aficionados]] consider Langford to be the greatest boxer not to have won a world title. On August 13, 2020, the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] granted Langford to be an honorary world champion. [[BoxRec]] ranks him as the 22nd greatest Canadian boxer of all time.<ref name=boxrec-ratings-world>{{cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/en/ratings?r%5Brole%5D=proboxer&r%5Bsex%5D=M&r%5Bdivision%5D=&r%5Bcountry%5D=CA&r%5Bstance%5D=&r%5Bstatus%5D=&r_go=|title=BoxRec ratings: Canada, pound-for-pound, active and inactive|access-date=26 December 2020|publisher=BoxRec}}</ref>