This isnt close imo. Leonard was one of the few men was had more talent as a boxer than Ross ,he also had a very underated right hand punch ,which Ross lacked. Leonard insn't just the best Jewish Lightweight ,he is the best Lightweight period ,imo.
McVey got to disagree it is close. There both very very very skilled technical fighters with maybe just an edge to Leonard who also has that big right hand. But Ross aint bad either he can really fight too. I side with Leonard on a close decision over 20 or 15 with it closer in the shorter distance. McVey Leonard is the 2nd best Lightweight ever after Duran
Duran's competition wasnt much ,Leonard beat the best crop of Lightweights ever. It might be heresy but I put Duran at no 4! Behind . Leonard Gans Williams .
fair dos McVey i just rate Duran as he was truly dominate beat top class fighters in Buchanan and De Jesus and is very very impressive on film. Leonard maybe had slightly better opponents and wins, and looks very impressive on film and i think is a 50:50 with Duran ther interchangeable IMO but i have Duran just a toe nail in front. As for Willaims i really havent seen enough of him and Gans i dont really rate fighters from before the 20s
Leonard has the superior lightweight resume in my eyes...my eyes have also not seen enough footage of Benny to say he was a better fighter then Ross, whom I think is one of the best overall fighters I have seen on film.
We haven't really got good enough film to judge Leonard on. Ross looked mighty impressive though I feel in his fights with Canzoneri, Petrolle, McLarnin. In terms of pure quantity of good fighters, Leonard's resume is hard to beat, but if we are looking at top wins, guys like Canzoneri and McLarnin are pretty impressive guys to have beaten. Not sure Leonard has anything to quite match those two.
Ross's resume is stacked as well, albeit probably not to the same degree as Benny's. McLarnin on the other hand has a better resume than either.
