Sammy Mandell - an ATG ??

I rate him pretty highly. top 10 LW, great resume in the division: Kansas, McLarnin, Canzoneri, Petrolle, Terris, J Dundee, Bernstein (x2), McGraw, Seeman (x2), H Brown (x2) - Terris (D), Bernstein (D) - Goodrich (L), Singer (L). Spent 4 years as the best LW in the world.

Plus he beat Jackie Fields up at WW.

So yeah, definitely an ATG.

 

Wasn't he a Blackburn fighter?

 

Yes, I think so.

He sure was tricky. Had some big heads on the wall too Canzoneri, Mclarnin, Petrolle... He was kind of unlucky to peak between Benny Leonard's generation and Tony Canzoneri's (his style wasn't very appealing either. Not explosive like Mclarnin or poetic like Canzoneri. Not even textbook perfect like Ross's, which itself was kinda underappreciated for a good time). Other fighters from his generation, like Sid Terris and Jackie Fields, are highly praised by the ones who witnessed them and he was very dominant until Mclarnin showed up and spoiled the whole thing. As for the thread's question... I think he is an ATG. I have him somewher between 11-15. Not firmly though. We are talking about the LW division after all.

 

I actually rank him above Tony who suffered quite a lot of defeats in the division as a prime fighter.

 

I'll tell you something for nothing, you want an underrated Lightweight, you better check out Welsey Ramey.

 

Possibly the worst case of bad timing in the division. I don't know how the hell the guy managed to NOT hold a title. Maybe it was the funny name.

 

He seemed to beat everyone around. Awesome win list.

 

Yeah. I don't know how the hell this guy slips under radar. He beaten two of the most famous fighters of his generation, both ATG, and I don't even know how many champions, sometimes repeatedly. Get some good points for longevity too. Had an extremely clean record until the very end of his career.

EDIT: Messed that up. I was sure he had beaten Mclarnin too. But it was 'just' Tony Canzoneri. So that's 1 of the most famous fighters of his gen which was an ATG.

 

Sammy Mandell is definitely one of the most underrated greats, which is weird because some of his best performances are on film for all to see (McLarnin, Canzoneri).

He did fade pretty bad towards the end of his career I suppose, which could account for becoming somewhat overlooked...

 

It's funny how I see people saying things like "Calzaghe is an ATG but has a pretty weak resume for an ATG." but then you look at Mandell's resume and people are so confused about why he's rarely mentioned they have to ask if he even is an ATG or not. I blame Howie Mandel for this.

 

If only his peak coincided with Barney Ross', we could have possibly had the greatest boxing chess match on film in the first half of the 20th Century.

 

Yes, he is an ATG.