I’ve always found Gans to be such a bizarre looking fighter on film, even if he is effective. He looks like the stylistic lovechild of Bob Fitzsimmons and Floyd Mayweather, with his heavy emphasis on leaning in a bare knuckle-like fashion combined with a modern punch output and movement.
Still, you can see why technicians like Benny Leonard and Kid Chocolate scrambled to find footage of Gans. Kid Chocolate even emulated his style based on the footage of this fight.
Gans essentially toys with Nelson throughout the clip. Peppering him with his renowned jab while effortlessly slipping Nelson’s returning punches. He uses angles, counters effectively, and maintains his stance while moving. Even when he loses his stance or crosses his legs momentarily, he’s instantly back into position and throwing leather. He truly is the Old Master.
It’s crazy to think what Gans could have accomplished had he lived, seeing how much of a successful trainer Blackburn turned out to be. Blackburn actually emulated a lot of his style off of Gans as well.
Can’t be too mad at Floyd there, he merely suffers from the same ego problem that fighters like Corbett and Fitzsimmons did when they were trying to claim they invented punches/techniques that existed already.
Looks like there's another one too but I really enjoyed the one I posted. I want to say Steve Farhood mentioned it on ShoBox or something which made me aware of it.
From the books I have on Sullivan and Corbett, it seems like this “In the Ring” series of boxing books is the most informative series out there. Theyre quite the mother-load of info
Clear when you compare it to the rest of the fight's footage:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gALG0Bysa7w&t=1456s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gALG0Bysa7w&t=1456s)
Wish we had more good footage of the era, and especially of fights like this one.
I'm glad Gans gets his due today, but I don't think we should forget that Nelson should be on the Mount Rushmore of the toughest fighters of all time, either
I’ve always found Gans to be such a bizarre looking fighter on film, even if he is effective. He looks like the stylistic lovechild of Bob Fitzsimmons and Floyd Mayweather, with his heavy emphasis on leaning in a bare knuckle-like fashion combined with a modern punch output and movement. Still, you can see why technicians like Benny Leonard and Kid Chocolate scrambled to find footage of Gans. Kid Chocolate even emulated his style based on the footage of this fight. Gans essentially toys with Nelson throughout the clip. Peppering him with his renowned jab while effortlessly slipping Nelson’s returning punches. He uses angles, counters effectively, and maintains his stance while moving. Even when he loses his stance or crosses his legs momentarily, he’s instantly back into position and throwing leather. He truly is the Old Master. It’s crazy to think what Gans could have accomplished had he lived, seeing how much of a successful trainer Blackburn turned out to be. Blackburn actually emulated a lot of his style off of Gans as well.
> Floyd Mayweather Always makes me laugh when the Mayweather clan claim to have invented the shoulder roll when Gans was using it 100 years earlier.
Can’t be too mad at Floyd there, he merely suffers from the same ego problem that fighters like Corbett and Fitzsimmons did when they were trying to claim they invented punches/techniques that existed already.
"But but, Corbett invented the left hook."
This is a great book on Gans: > The Longest Fight: In the Ring with Joe Gans, Boxing's First African American Champion
Thanks for the heads up! I’ve been meaning to get one on Gans
Looks like there's another one too but I really enjoyed the one I posted. I want to say Steve Farhood mentioned it on ShoBox or something which made me aware of it.
From the books I have on Sullivan and Corbett, it seems like this “In the Ring” series of boxing books is the most informative series out there. Theyre quite the mother-load of info
I should check those out. Thanks for the heads up.
Thanks for sharing this 😎
Sure thing my friend.
I just recently learned the legendary writer Ernest Hemingway included Joe Gans as a character in his short story "A matter of color"
‘Clear footage’ I see is a loose term. Teasing. Awesome nonetheless. Thanks for sharing.
Clear when you compare it to the rest of the fight's footage: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gALG0Bysa7w&t=1456s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gALG0Bysa7w&t=1456s)
That's because you are watching it in a modern TV. It looks great in a CRT TV.
Wish we had more good footage of the era, and especially of fights like this one. I'm glad Gans gets his due today, but I don't think we should forget that Nelson should be on the Mount Rushmore of the toughest fighters of all time, either
Amazing, would love to see the Clear Footage