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Show ' I AHE recent death of Benny Leon-ard Leon-ard revives the old argument concerning the best lightweight from a long and able parade. No other ring division has f i E. 1 sent out as many f 1 fine fighters. The 14 j list includes such H?: W'''s, jM boxers and punch-S punch-S "C ers as Je Gans, j Benny Leonard, I S j Jack McAuliffe, f 1 Frank Erne, Kid i Lavigne the Sagi- I" naw Kid, Bat Nel- i son, Ad Wolgast, Willie Ritchie, Fred dy Welsh, Tony B. Leonard Can20neri( Henry Armstrong and many others. In various debates and arguments that have been under way for 40 years, there are generally two names that finish out in front Leonard Leon-ard and Gans. Some time ago, Harry Smith, the veteran San Francisco expert who has been covering championship matches for more than 50 years, who goes back deep into ring history, his-tory, put this selection up to many of those who had seen both men in action. In the vote that followed, Gans, the Old Master from Baltimore, Balti-more, had a slight lead. Both were rated headline artists as boxers and punchers. Leonard had much the better ring reeord. But Gans. to make a living, had to take orders more than once that included a dive. He was the fighter Jack Blackburn, Black-burn, a great ringman on his own who once had charge of Joe Louis, picked as the best. But there are many others who rate Leonard on a par. Gans finished bis career in the last stages of tuberculosis, but even when a sick man he outlasted Bat Nelson, the Durable Dane. No one ever knew just how good Gans might have been under cleaner handling plus better health. Both Boxer and Puncher In addition to being a brilliant boxer, one who had no waste motion, mo-tion, he also was a murderous puncher. punch-er. In his last fight with Nelson, when Gans was moving close to an early death, he nailed Nelson with a right to the side. "I thought Gans had used a knife," Nelson said later. lat-er. "I never had a punch that hurt as much. I felt like crying.' Leonard was smart, game, one of the ablest of all the boxers and a hard puncher- on the side. He was one of the greatest of the lot, and many rank him in front. And beyond be-yond that the game has known no one more willing to help any worthy cause, where he could be of use. On the night before the Dempsey-Willard Dempsey-Willard battle in Toledo, back in 1919, Bob Edgren and I dropped by to see Jess Willard. The 245-pound defending champion was more than willing to outline his plan of battle. "Look over Dempsey's record," he said. "A knockout in one round. Another knockout in two rounds. Two more in one round. You know what that means. It means he starts punching from the bell. You can't keep piling up one-round knockouts unless you pile in and start swinging. swing-ing. I'm going to wait for him with my left out and my right ready for an uppercut. The second he comes In close enough, I'll let him have it And X don't believe any 187-pound guy can hurt me." ! That had been Dempsey's earlier : plan. Jack and Kearns had covered cov-ered a bet, $10,000 against $100,000, , on knocking Willard out in the first I round. Naturally Dempsey didn't want to waste any time fooling around.' It was Leonard, a master mind in Dempsey's camp, who got Dempsey and Kearns to switch their plan. "This big guy will be waiting for that first rush," Leonard said. "He's dangerous with that right-hand uppercut. up-percut. There's no use taking any such chance against a fellow who outweighs you by 58 pounds. The thing to do is to make Willard lead first. Circle in and out, weaving and bobbing. And keep it up until he leads. Then go to work." Strategic Stalling This was wise advice. For something some-thing like 47 seconds, which seemed longer than 10 minutes, Dempsey circled Willard after the manner of a leopard moving around an ox. Dempsey would move in, weave, bob and then move back again. Around and around, with Willard shifting position, po-sition, all set for the expected rush. The time finally came when Willard Wil-lard couldn't wait any longer. After all, Willard was the champion and he had a 58-pound margin in weight, many Inches In reach and five or six inches In height. As Dempsey started weaving in again, Willard tried a left jab. The tigerish tiger-ish Dempsey moved in under and nailed Willard with a hard right to the body, followed in a split-second flash with a killing left high on the cheekbone. Willard fell like a giant marionette whose strings had snapped. Later on, in the short fight, Willard Wil-lard jolted Dempsey badly with the same uppercut he had hoped to use in the first round. But, by that time, Willard was a helpless hulk. This is merely further proof of Leonard's ring smartness. Ht always al-ways had most of the answ ers. |