You know what, I was about three quarters of the way through a big Benny Leonard post with all his statistics and reasons why he was great. And then my internet crashed :twisted: For ****'s sake. Anyway, discuss: where does he rate as a lightweight, on your pound-for-pound list, and why.
It is difficult for me to tell because it is said he had few peers. But peers are stuck in time, and further down the road there is another generation with peers as well. S.R. Leonard and Duran were peers. To judge Benny Leonard by the writing of his time is to exclude further data. Would S.R. Leonard or Duran be ranked better? In some ways it is unfair to think like that simply because it is not possible to compare them fairly. Sports writers are stuck with the same words to describe fighters. For instance if the term 'great' is used in the 20's and it is used in the 70's does it actually convey the amount of talent? Or is it merely a convenience we use to convey an idea? Benny Leonard was said to be a slick boxer. The same words are used to describe Ray Robinson. Obviously the same words do not denote the same thing precisely as different images come to mind when the term is applied to each man. I think it is a fools game to some extent to try and do this. A man can only be rightly judged on the basis of what he does, not against someone who comes later. However it is fun to do and to speculate. One thing that is necessary to understand about Benny Leonard is the time he fought. the 20's and 30's. Boxing styles were not that varied then, and were much more crude in performance than boxers in this era. He was 'great' against them. Could he have had the same success today against better trained and conditioned fighters?
He has to rank amongst the best of all time. He was streets ahead of the rough and tumble fighters of the era in terms of skill,footwork and technique. I saw some footage on youtube of his fight with Lew Tendler and even with the so so quality of film I thought he looked fantastic.His use of the ring,speed,defense and counter punching ability were clearly evident against an awkward,powerful southpaw opponent. Leonard may have been a master boxer but he could also gut it out if necessary.In his fight against Charley White,Leonard got knocked clean out of the ring in the 5th round after being tagged with 3 consecutive left hooks by a big puncher.Benny climbed back in badly hurt but was good enough and tough enough to survive and to then go on to knock White out in the 9th. As stated previously his resume is superb.Legends like Tendler,Freddie Welsh,Johnny Dundee,Rocky Kansas,Richie Mitchell,Jack Britton and Johnny Kilbane are just a few of this master's victims. I think it's too hard to do an all-time p4p list but if I was going to try Benny Leonard would be right up there.Only Duran compare's at 135 imo.
Top 3 at lightweight..probably no1..I just tend to change lists depending on how I feel. Like Jofre and Olivares have swapped the no1 Bantam position over the years in my lists. I have Benny in my top 10 all time p4p..I think 6 or 7 actually.
Interesting about the Bantams WaR... Who do you like better P4P?? Olivares for punching or Chucho for boxing ability??