Benny Leonard...Welterweight Champion?

Walker would have won

On a side note Leonard was beating Britton before fouling out so he could have won the welter title anyway

 

Interesting question.

Walker was at his best against guys he didn't have to look for, but he struggled a little bit against boxers. If Leonard can take Walker's punch he might be in with a shot of outboxing him. It's probably unlikely though as Benny was a little too far past his prime at that stage to move effectively enough to cause Walker too many problems. It'd probably be a close fight with Walker getting the nod imo.

 

Britton was clearly winning the fight on points according to reports. That's just another myth that Leonard was winning it handily.

 

i did not know that, where did u read these reports?

 

NYT report
round by round

 

Everything I've read about the Benny Leonard-Jack Britton fight says that Leonard was winning-"but wasn't himself";anyway he already beat Britton in a non-title fight-and Walker only decisioned Lew Tendler,who Leonard-according to what I've read-easily beat in their rematch in a sellout of Yankee Stadium,which was Leonard's last big fight.I think he signed to fight Walker-then decided to retire (for the first time)in January,1925.

 

Everything I've read about the Benny Leonard-Jack Britton fight says that Leonard was winning-"but wasn't himself";anyway he already beat Britton in a non-title fight-and Walker only decisioned Lew Tendler,who Leonard-according to what I've read-easily beat in their rematch in a sellout of Yankee Stadium,which was Leonard's last big fight.I think he signed to fight Walker-then decided to retire (for the first time)in January,1925.

 

All reports I read had Britton winning the fight at the time of the foul.

 

Boxrec in its report on the fight claims that the ringside press was "unanimous" in judging Britton to be way ahead at the time or the foul.

 

wow interesting, i will look it up

 

I beleve I read in Nat Flachlicer's bio of Benny Leonard "Leonard the Magnicfent....The man who made himself king of the lightweights" Leonard was in fact loseing the fight before the foul.
I think if they had a Jr. Wealter weight class back than he would have been an alltime greatat 140 as well as 135. I think he could have won a championship at 147, but it would have been tough for him to do so and to defend it. I don't think he was big enough to be a top welterweight.

 

Jack Britton is pretty underated as a fighter, a great fighter imo. So was Ted Kid Lewis.