Benny Leonard v Ike Williams

This is about as tough a fight to call as any.I hope this thread gets the response it deserves ,but I somehow doubt it will!

 

I'm going to go very tentatively for Benny to take a decision, but with no real conviction and in a trilogy I think they would near enough share the honours.I'm very high on Ike,I place him a spot above Duran ! Leonard is my number one at the weight.Gans number 2 ,Ike 3 Duran 4.

 

Leonard for me. He was more consistent and imo the better overall fighter.

 

Talk about an all time great boxer vs great attacking fighter match up.

I havent seen enough film of Benny Leonard to rate him but all the so called experts from his era were incredibly high about his abilities. Along with Greb and Dempsey he was the highest rated fighter of his era by the press. Ike Williams I have seen a fair bit of and the bloke was an absolute monster of a lightweight.

I honestly cannot make an educated selection due to not having enough knowledge about Leonard but its without a doubt an all time historically great match up. One of the best that can be made at 135.

Stuff it, I will pick Ike just to be a bit of an iconoclast.

Cheers.

 

I'm going with Leonard. I see him shutting Ike down enough for a UD

 

Great thread. I agree this is tough one to call either way.

I'm not sure how you can pick against Benny Leonard. This guy was Ray Robinson before Ray Robinson. He had not only speed and power but the mobility to box out of danger when necessary. Ray Arcel would always talk about boxing being "brain over brawn". This was Benny Leonard. Being able to think not only to dissect an opponent but on the fly when fatigue has set in.
I`d lean towards Benny Leonard based on his mobility and quickness. Quickness is the most important physical attribute you can have in sports. The ability to get in and out move side to side. You had to respect his punching power as well. Couple that with his Ring IQ and its easy to see why his record at Lightweight was so amazing.

Benny Leonard gets up off the canvas to win a decision in a blazing fight.

 

Two of my all-time favorite fighters. I think that Leonard would win- I guess I have them as 1-2 at lightweight but I don't make lists- but I am not too confident about it. If I could make any fight in history this could be the one.

 

Ray Arcel said Leonard was the best LW he had seen.

 

If he said that then I defer to him, seeing as he trained arguably the two greatest lightweights of all time in Leonard and Duran!

 

I've picked Leonard. From the footage I've seen, Ike Williams, although not flat footed by any means, maybe would have struggled with the movement of someone like Leonard. Leonard also had enough power to keep Ike off him. It wouldn't surprise me if this fight wasn't as close as it might look on paper and that Leonard would take a fairly comfortable decision. But that's harder to say so I'll just say Leonard wins.

 

He didn't train Leonard when he was a light weight ,he trained Benny on his abortive comeback as a welter which only happened because Leonard had been financially wiped out in the Wall Street Crash.
Arcel in later years said Duran was the greatest.
Imo it was Benny, but how much distance is there between Leonard,Gans,Willliams ,and Duran?
Not enough to be supremely confident in picking one to beat the others.imo

 

True, true - it wasn't prime Leonard that Arcel trained but I guess he'd seen enough when he trained him to know. But then Arcel was about 120 when he died so I also guess he had a right to change his mind!

But yeah, there's not a big gap at lightweight between the top three or four greatest. I'd pick Benny too but each of the four dominated their respective eras.

 

Bob Cat Montgomery beats both of them....
I would lean towards a Leonard decision but not with an absolute confidence