Monte Cox : "Joe Gans is the greatest lightweight of all time ahead of Benny Leonard"

Agreed. Hard to rank that division.

Looks like Danny Trejo in your avatar!

 

I have no problem with rating the Old Master,Joe Gans #1, and Benny Leonard#2. Who can really tell amongst two titans ?
Many years ago i read an interview with the long retired great WW, jack Britton, who as a young fighter sparred several times with Joe gans, and many years later he fought the smaller LW Benny Leonard twice...When a reporter asked who would have won between Joe Gans and Benny Leonard
responded Benny Leonard !. For what it's worth...

 

Gans fought the better op ... Joe Walcott, Sam Langford, Jack Blackburn, Battling Nelson ... I can live with the selection ... both were amazing fighters ...

 

Gans in Goldfield is a scary, scary prospect. We see him deck Nelson twice with singular punches. He had to be dying of tuberculosis for Bat to defeat him in their returns.

It's a good challenge to speculate about Gans without TB, and Benny without retiring as LW Champion, going on as long as he could instead, but in Goldfield, the Old Master proved that he could utterly dominate an ATG like Nelson over 45 rounds (as he clearly would have without Oscar's flagrantly deliberate low blow), even when unfairly weight drained and weakened. (Remember, Joe had to weigh in at 133 wearing full gear immediately before the opening bell in Goldfield.) Allow Gans the more liberal weight making requirements of Leonard's era, supplying Joe with full strength, take the cuffs completely away from both, and Benny would have his work cut out for him.

For whatever it's worth, Langford considered Gans the greatest of all time in any weight class, and Joe's own idol Fitz indicated likewise. This is somewhat akin to Robinson expressly rating Pep or Burley over himself, just absolutely crazy praise from the very finest of the Old Master's P4P peers. (And we know from Maxim-Robinson that SRR NEVER could have done what Gans did to Nelson under the Goldfield sun.)

 

So did Griffo if memory serves me right, he had a certain who's who resume too for the time.

 

Definitely possible and a credible pick for the number one lightweight of all time.

 

He looks fantastic on film to me. Boxing rings around opponents establishing the jab, tremendous footwork, exploiting openings with punches in bunches. And on the front foot, he was such a ****ing predator, cutting down the ring, coming in on an angle so he's still an awkward target himself when advancing, and then timing that killer right hand so well and hitting it accurately. He was the man.

 

Not just that killer right, but we see him deck Nelson with his hook. The man needed only one shot from either hand to get the job done. 100 knockouts. Take away the cuffs and dives, give them all killer temperaments, and a full lifespan with complete careers, then who comes away with the knockout record, Joe the Master, Sam the Terror, Bennah the Wizard, Robby (109 knockouts as was, so we can't leave him out), or Archie the Mongoose?