BoxRec

I don't know what the general concensus here is, but I'm now of the opinion that Jack Johnson, although extremely gifted otherwise, lacked real knockout stuff. In the power department, he was closer to Muhammad Ali. I recently re-watched his second bout with Fireman Jim Flynn, and if there was ever any man he wanted to knock flat it should have been the Pueblo fireman. He hit Flynn hard and often, but Flynn was still upright at the end and full of vinegar.

Experts used to say that Johnson toyed with Burns when they fought, that he could've knocked him out whenever he pleased. I frankly don't think he could. He put everything he had into an early blow that reportedly put Tommy down, but the little champ got right back up.

I think that ol' Jack took quite a few wallops early on in his career and decided that if he was going to stick around, he'd better go on the defensive and not take chances (kinda like Roy Jones). His knockouts over first class men usually happened in the later rounds. It took him 20 rounds to KO McVea. Nine to put away Bill Lang. Eleven rounds to finish off Jim Flynn the first time. Never did stop Jeannette or Big Sandy. Took 15 to polish off old, fat Jeffries. His few early KOs came over b-level heavies like Ed Johnson, Joe Kennedy, Morris Harris, Joe Butler, a washed-up Denver Ed Martin, etc. These guys posed no threat, so he could step in and put some weight into his punches.

What do you guys think?

Cap

During the Flynn bout it is obvious Johnson is toying with an icnreasingly irritated Flynn. Same with Burns. His style was not to extend himself and let his opponents do the leading. But no-one who saw him questioned that he had knockout power when he wanted to end the fight. Jefferies, Mcvey, Martin all had strong chins and Johnson KTFO them all. Not extending yourself and putting on more of a show was the style of all of the black fighters of that time-period-if you look at the KO percentages of the top black fighters and compare them to their white counterparts the whites all have a much higher KO ratio. Does this mean white people hit harder? No, of course not.
Similar to Jones JR yes, but don't tell me Roy couldn't punch-his power put Ruiz and Tarver (in their first fight) into a shell and he knocked out several guys who were known for their durability. But Johnson had a much better chin and was more durable then Jones ever was. Was he a power-puncher in the true sense of the word-?no, not at all. But he is certainly a harder hitter then Ali-Jack is more in the Holmes Holyfield department of power, not your Liston or Foreman.