Benny Leonard v Jack Britton Rematch?

Little Red, Nat Fleisher thought it was done purposely and it greatly troubled him as he was Benny's biggest backer and wrote one or more books on him. So clear did he view it this way, and so uncharacteristic was it of Benny temperment, that Nat endevored to find the why without success for his own peace of mind on the matter. Burt likely found the answer and its a shame Nat didn't know of this before he died.

 

Thomas S. Rice of Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
"Leonard had all to win and Britton had all to lose, except that if Leonard went into history with the record of having been cleanly outpointed in the 15-round limit by the aged Jack, it would have been a decided blow at Leonard's reputation as a boxer and would have hurt him when he eventually entered the welterweight class. There were excellent reasons why Leonard should not want to lose a clean decision, even to a man in a weight class higher than that in which Leonard was the already acknowledged champion.

Leonard, like all the rest of our topnotch boxers these days, is essentially a business man, looking to the future.
...
According to our observation last night Britton had a clear advantage on points in all of the first 12 rounds, except the 11th, which was Leonard's, and the eighth, which was probably a draw. Britton was winning by a mile on points, and even the most fanatical of Leonard's own special following knew he was losing. What those people knew, Leonard, one of the craftiest of the crafty in the ring, also knew. Furthermore, the equally astute Britton knew that Leonard was losing, and losing by a wide margin. The pace was beginning to tell on the 37-year-old Britton, but it was likewise telling on Leonard. Nothing but a chance knockout could have made Leonard a winner, and there was nothing to indicate that he would have such good fortune in facing so elusive and resourceful an opponent.

It was entirely Britton's bout up to the time Britton claimed to have been hit low in the 13th round."


W. J. Macbeth of New-York Tribune:
"This greatly heralded match was one that will do the game no good. It had every earmark of "one of those things."

It appealed to the expert fight critic much in the nature of a clown act that had been cleverly rehearsed.

Had it not been for the unexpected though dramatic ending the exhibition might have passed muster. But the unsatisfactory ending, coming as it did, left just one conclusion to be drawn. Our burly boys were fighting not for glory but for their respective percentages of the gate receipts and with the fine prize money in sight they evidently kept the weather eye peeled for another big "house" in the not distant future. If this bout was on the up and up then a spiral is the shortest distance between two given points.
...
Presuming for an instant that this entertainment was all it should have been, then the lightweight champion would have had to score a knock-out to win the mill. Britton piled up so many points in the early rounds that Benny's only chance to even the tide was to stop him."


New York Evening Post:
"For ten rounds it appeared as if Britton had the better of the bout on points."
11th won by Leonard. Britton came back strong in the 12th.


George B. Underwood of New York Evening Telegram:
"He (Britton) probably would have won on points except for an apparently unthinking, but most suspicious action of Leonard, who struck Britton while Jack was on one knee with Referee Patsy Haley counting over him.
...
For ten rounds Britton, with a consummate display of boxing wizardry and ring generalship, outboxed and outfought Leonard at every turn.
...
We know enough of the ring game to understand what inroads the professional gamblers have made on boxing as well as in all professional sports and some amateur sports in fact. Perhaps that slimy gentry was responsible for Leonard "losing his head" and striking a fallen opponent.

But we repeat, the only suspicious thing about the contest was its weird and unsatisfactory ending, and up to that point we never saw an apparently more earnestly and honestly waged encounter.

It is possible also that, granting Leonard did not wager on himself to lose, that he purposely did so in order to cut down the odds for his coming battle with Lew Tendler. That is possible, but we believe improbable, inasmuch as up to the ending Leonard apparently tried desperately to win, but found it beyond him because of the great skill and ring generalship of his opponent, coupled with his own stableworn condition and ring rustiness."


Vincent Treanor of New York Evening World:
"Before this (13th round) Britton had the fight--it really had reached the fight stage--won by a mile. He outboxed, outsmarted, outgeneralled and did everything a champion should do."


New York Call:
"Up to this time (13th round) the old fellow was using the hairbrush on this clever young delegate of the smart-aleck generation. He worked his butterfly left jab round after round to Leonard's face and his hard right to the body was about as hard as a humming bird's kick."


New York Times:
"Britton, on the other hand, showed surprisingly good form, and appeared to be an easy winner on points up to the time of the foul."

 

One more time...Senya puts forward that WW Jack Britton ahead leading to the 13th rd. He quotes obsevers comments... I have read that Leonard was ahead up to the 13th rd. Be as it may, I fervently believe the statement of Manny Seamon, Benny Leonard's and later Joe Louis's WELL REGARDED trainer who just before he died confessed to reporters that just before Leonard entered the ring, Billy Gibson who knew the hoodlums of NY, sadly told Leonard,"Benny you can't win tonight ". Seamon was there and saw Leonard confused and in tears...Who wouldn't be ? Seamon I believe had not one iota motive to concoct a lie ,many years later just before he died...
He carried this secret until Leonard, Britton and Billy Gibson were dead...
Plus why in the world would Benny Leonard, if he "wanted to save face"
by "losing" to the WW Britton, DROP AND HURT Britton with a blast to the midsection, run across the ring and slap Britton on the side of the head ???
Why would any sane boxer fearing a decision loss, wait until he has his opponent helpless and in pain ,and Leonard on the verge of a KO, FOUL OUT...? The only sensible reason for Benny Leonard to unbecomingly
foul a helpless opponent, would be because what the great boxing trainer Manny Seamon confessed to, that Benny Leonard "COULDN'T WIN",and did what his manager told him..."You can't win tonight " ! This in boxing had happened before and after...Even Sherlock Holmes would agree with me on this event, June 26, 1922...

 

I'm not saying its not suspicious; it is which is why we're still talking about it 90 years later. Its perplexing. Did Leonard rush across the ring? Or did he drop Britton and linger nearby as was common practice at the time? Could it be a fix? Absolutely this is boxing not the purest of activities. But that.doesn't make it so.

 

As great a boxer as Jack was, dominance to this degree in a legitimate contest over a peaking Leonard is an awful lot to swallow. A couple weeks later, he stopped Rocky Kansas in eight, and would defend against Tendler for the movies within a month. Looking at Leonard-Tendler I, the idea of anybody legitimately leading Bennah 10-1-1 on the cards after 12 at that time, even the 37 year old ageless Marvel, is a lot to accept.

Jack had a championship distance majority draw with Shade in February, and would get dethroned by Walker in November. Leonard handled Kansas easily twice in 1922, and would take the measure of Tendler over the championship distance the following July. Factoring in their career trajectories, I tend to favor the view Burt has represented here. I believe Benny was spoken to beforehand, resulting in a much better showing by Britton than their previous history would suggest. (And the fight ending behavior the Wizard was disqualified for is wildly outside the gentlemanly sportsmanlike conduct we see him display with Tendler the very next month.)

 

Bens Mgr Billy Gibson seems pretty well established as a front man for messers Arnold Rothsteen.

 

Name me at least one next-day report that had Leonard ahead? I haven't seen a single one. As noted at boxrec, Jack Kincad found about 15 different local next-day reports and all 15 were unanimous in having Britton well ahead on points.

 

Senya , I am not in my home state presently and do not have access to old
boxing reports...I will not dispute your assumption that Britton might have been "ahead" on the cards...Whether he was ahead doesn't alter the fact that Manny Seamon confessed that Billy Gibson, Leonard's connected manager told Benny "you can't win tonight" ,just before entering the ring...
Seamon just before he died had NOTHING to gain by lying many years later. Nothing...If what he claims happened and subsequent events POINT to that, why would Leonard be ahead on points if he was told NOT TO WIN ? His life and also Billy Gibson's life were most likely in danger were he to ignore Gibson's warning...Why would the greatly respected Manny Seamon lie years later just before he died ? Why would the brainiest of all lightweights Benny Leonard , scoot over to the floored and hurt Jack Britton
and smack Britton on the side of his face, when Leonard was on the verge of koing Britton ? If as you implied Leonard FOULED Britton to SAVE FACE because he was losing, why would he choose the moment when he could win the bout by a kayo ? Everything POINTS to what the respected trainer Manny Seamon said about Gibson telling Leonard in the dressing room just before the bout, " Benny you can't win tonight ". Leonard always avoided questions about that terrible night until he died refereeing a bout at St. Nicholas Arena... I believe this version to be true, after all years later Jake LaMotta went into the tank against a mob controlled fighter Billy Fox, who was later flattened by Gus Lesnevich TWICE, at MSG....Leonard did what he had to do, and couldn't go all out in that bout, but when he landed a body shot to Britton's stomache and worried that Britton couldn't beat the 10 count or continue the fight, had no other recourse but to foul Britton while
the referee was counting, thus following Billy Gibson's orders...Cheers...

 

I'm taking the conservative view, supported by such people as Robert Edgren and George Underwood that it wasn't a fake.

According to some views Leonard suffered from trying to do Manny Seamon a favor, by training in his gym (that Seamon spent $5K building about a year before), ie indoors, with a lot of people packed inside to see him training. Benny wanted the gym to be more popular by his training there. Leonard said never again, unless it's too cold outside, he'd do a lot of roadwork and outside training. He wasn't prepared mentally, and his legs weren't as strong and quick as the result. He got bewildered, by losing the fight on points by wide margin, and earlier in the final round he was pushed by Britton and fell, but instead of helping him get up, Jack turned around and walked to a corner, Benny was angry. Leonard thought Britton was rising up, he just walked around the referee and struck him carelessly. Britton was nowhere near being knocked out at the time. He was tired, yes, he was hurt somewhat by the stomach blow, but no next-day report that I read thought he was about to be knocked out.

 

Should have, could have, might have, we could go on ad finitum S. I BELIEVE in the integrity of the ONLY witness to what happened in Benny Leonard's dressing room just PRIOR to the bout...Manny Seamon confessed
to the fact Billy Gibson sadly told Leonard "Benny you can't win tonight "!!!
Seamon kept this secret with him until he died...What did Seamon have to gain by disclosing this ? NADA.. Honestly S, if Leonard wanted to" save face",because he was losing most every round according to your sources...
1- He wouldn't choose a time when he had Britton down on the canvas in the 13th round...He would if Britton got up, go all out to ko Britton and win the Welterweight title, thus "saving face ".
2- If as you allege ,he was not in top condition for the fight, Leonard as all others would have made that excuse known to the public...Human nature...
3- Instead Leonard kept that event silent, practicing OMERTA til the time he died TWENTY FIVE years later...

 

It is suspicious.

I suppose Leonard might have just lost his cool, but it all seems a bit out of character for Benny Leonard to go "full Golota" in a major fight.


Britton was on the floor getting counted over, most reports imply from a legit body blow. Seems like a strange time for Leonard to throw in the towel.

 

I don't know it all just seems so... apocryphal. Burt where'd you read that Seamon's quote? A lot of people say a lot of things a lot of them untrue.

Not to answer for another poster but Britton wasn't on the verge if being koed, in fact he claimed Leonard hit him low. AS I type this it occurs to me we haven't satisfactorily answered the op. I guess the answer is the same as why it took Leonard and Duran 10 years for a rubber match instead of 10 months; it was a mostly one sided fight that ended controversially.

 

My dad who lived near Leonard always said to me that Leonard "threw that fight". Writers in old Mags implied something was amiss in that bout...
But in a great book I read about 8 years ago about Corner Men in boxing ,Manny Seamon revealed all this in an interview with the author of that book. I am not in my home state to track down the book, but I will when i get home...But read it I did. It was about famous corner men of boxing and Manny Seamon was one of the interviews...Seamon had NO reason to lie, and Gibson and Leonard were dead by the time of the
disclosure...I will post ESB when I get the name of the book and the author when I can...

 

Whatever you want to believe.

There were a lot of myths surrounding the old-timers. I could tell you a couple of myths supposedly told by Leonard himself to Nat Fleischer (which I know are not true by looking up the facts in next-day local reports).

You must be aware how many times Britton was stopped in a career that spanned 25 years and almost 350 fights?

I'm quoting Leonard's excuse as he told it to a reporter the next day after the fight (printed 2 days later after the date of the bout).