In 1972, while being interviewed about the much admired Ken Buchanan, Ray Arcel spoke briefly about a fighter named Yanger, a smooth-boxing Chicagoan who retired in 1910. Arcel was asked if Buchanan was “another Yanger.” “No,” he replied firmly. “Yanger knew everything there was to know about boxing.” Yanger beat three men who held the lineal title. He fought an absolutely savage fight while still learning against future champ Abe Attell in 1902. Attell's condition forced police intervention at the end of the nineteenth round. According to Ken Blady’s “The Jewish Boxer’s Hall of Fame”, Yanger “opened up a cut that didn’t stop bleeding until the end of the fight…both men emerged for the 19th covered in blood.” When Attell came to the title, no remtach. Yanger never held the title. He pounded out a fifteen round decision over a faded George Dixon then met Young Corbett II, Yanger put on a silken left-handed exhibition for the first seven rounds before finally turning to his right in the eighth, thrice dropping Corbett before he agreed to a ten count. All these men got better or had been better but still, Yanger surely one of the finest feathers not to have won the title? This content is protected
Based on what I've read of him, he was truly phenomenal. Think Senya rates him really high like....top 50 of all time, maybe higher. Yanger has a really impressive resume as well.
There's a series of Jewish fighters in those eras that are all excellent fighters. Ranking them is very difficult.
Yes, Senya thinks very highly of Yanger: "Benny Yanger's achievements are comparable to Muhammad Ali's, if not greater" "Dixon and Attell were better than any name on Ali's winning resume".
See I disagree with him there, but Senya famously hates heavyweights. I get it generally, but in terms of their skill level Liston and Frazier aren’t worse than smaller fighters. And as for Foreman, it’s not like Avelar wasn’t a dangerman from flyweight to super bantamweight either. But Yanger was a tremendous fighter, no doubt about it.
I’ve got Yanger in the top 100 but not top 30 as McGrain does. And as I go my weight rather than title and his resume is spread from like...122 to 130, I don’t rank him in any division (not top 10 anyway)
