Did Benny Leonard ever fight a black fighter ?

He, I don't understand your post. In the time Leonard was LW title holder 1917-24 he gave every worthwhile opponent a shot at his crown. As great as Benny Leonard was in the ring, he was idolized as a fine human being
by all in his time. And during his reign there were very few black LWs of note, but the most respected black fighter then was Leo Johnson, whom Leonard during the beginning of his championship, flattened in the first round as I have posted prior...Let's not tarnish unfairly the reputation of
the decent and great Bennah....Cheers...

 

Intruiging question which I did not know the answer to ,[cheers BB]. Tommy Loughran also never fought a black man.

 

This thread just reiterates for me people with an agenda looking for something which isn't There- brings to mind a story from the city of my birth - my dear dad (say hello to all the great fighters up there dad x) as a lad played a local soccer team named the Clifton All-Whites on account of there all white kits (a la Leeds for any English football fans) and more recently it emerged that they had now requested a name change as it was deemed offensive because all the players who play for the team now are all black???!!! I know...ridiculous but there you go - I mean would he grant still have a problem if Leonard had only fought 20 black fighters as opposed to 30?? It's ok maybe he fought a lot of heavily tanned people - would that make it any better?

 

Rocky,why do some posters want to discover which fighter of the past were
"predjudice", so many years after their career ? to ask me in effect"why didn't Leonard who fought 212 fights ,did not fight black fighters ? When I
mentioned Leonard, the most tolerant of men,at the START of his title reign, gave Leo Johnson and Eddie Dorsey,two black fighters of that time a lightweight shot, I was then asked wouldn't it be more reasonable for Leonard who had 212 bouts, to have fought 20 or more black fighters,
instead of only two, it get's my ire Rocky. There were very very few prominent black LWs in 1917-24, and that was NOT Leonard's FAULT...
I'm too old to play the game of gotcha...Cheers Rocky:good
P.S. The bigot Leonard never fought any Muslims either...Scoundrel was he !!!

 

Thanks for clearing things up Burt. Leonard was the man and probably the greatest LW of all time. For the record I think Leonard beats Duran in a time macine bout. Not easily mind you but wins nonetheless.

 

he, name me ONE black LW of note, who was worthy of a match with
the great Benny Leonard, that Leonard AVOIDED...Please name just ONE,let alone "dozens" you bandy about ? I ,have never heard a whisper of
Benny Leonard avoiding any lightweight of any color, size, or shape in all my decades of reading and following boxing...Nary ANY innuendos of Benny Leonard not fighting a WORTHY lightweight EVER. He was by all odds the equal of Ray Robinson as a lightweight, who should not be tainted by
political correctness 80 years after he left a great boxing legacy as a fighter and a beloved gentleman...So let him rest on his well deserved laurels, I say...Cheers...

 

Yeah, makes sense, judging a fighter on imaginary fighters he didn´t fight.

Great job, Burt!

 

Okay then, go ahead and name those black fighters who should have gotten a shot at the great Bennah instead of the fighters who did.