Gans is a fighter I've always ranked in the top 3 lightweights all time in spite of not knowing much about his competition. My reasoning was that no way does a black man at that time build such an incredible record and the testimonials of his incredible skills. I can take ranking Gans, Leonard and Duran in any order (I personally rank Leonard first based on his incredible lightweight resume) but the more I learn about Gans the more impressed I am with his competition and dominance. In your opinion should Gans rate over Leonard? Was he more dominant than Duran? In what order do you rank the 3 of them and why?
I was always under the impression Leonard fought the better lightweight resume, but because of Gans color (this was an assumption on my part) that he would have had to have been more dominant to amass such a record during that period. I've been reading everything about him I can find for the last several months and my opinion is starting to change.
I wouldnt say I'm a Gans expert by any means but I've always had him behind Leonard and Duran. Might have to do a little reading on Gans.
I guess that Gans lightweight resume becomes more and more impresive the more you learn about the era. Griffo, Dobbs, McFadden, Erne, Holly, Blackburn, Britt, Nelson were great fighters in their own right.
Oh I quite agree, nothing disparaging in my comment, I think Gans retained his dignity in the face of some god awful tribulations. nb .He is credited with the saying ," bringing home the bacon".
