[Spoonking]

Maybe its a silly question. Who do you guys consider the better of the two?, I remember reading that Tyson said that he thought only Ross could be competetive with his modern day counterparts. However, Benny is considered by some to be the greatest lightweight of all time. Personally I find Ross's rugged style more appealing. What do you guys think?

[GlassJaw]

I personally would disagree with the idea that only Ross would be competive in the modern age of boxing.

Both we're great thinkers in different ways. Both Jewish too I believe.

While Barney was perhaps more sound defensively, he was much less light of foot. I actually believe Benny was the first to state the obvious in "The game's to hit and not be hit". In the debate of "who's greater" It will come down to which opposition you prefer. Both fought fellow HoF'ers, McLarnin was there, as was the military...hmm, I guess if had to choose, I'd say Leonard's cunning beats out Ross' techinicality.

[Sharkey]

I'm a big admirer of them both, but if I was aked who was the better or greater of the two, I'd take Benny Leonard by a shade due to him, with his skills and proven ability, having just a teenie bit more of an impact on the sport and it's followers by my judgement. I'd consider both of them right up there, though, in quite a small group of only a few as being amongst the greatest and most accomplished fighters to have ever stepped into the ring.

As far as who would fit better into the "modern" era, whatever the hell that means...Listen, I'm not a big fan of hypotheticals like this, as I'd much rather us fans spend the time figuring out how good (or great) they were during their own respective careers and how they were measured in the ring against actual and real competition from their own time, rather than try to do nothing but guess on how they'd do against others from before or after their fighting careers were taking place. Judge the likes of Leonard and Ross by what they showed and accomplished during their own times, I say, and you'll see that their stars shone as bright, if not brighter, than any fighter that was around during their careers, and I think that's all you could have asked and/or expected from them.

[markshark#1]

Benny was the man!!!

[Hammer Time]

wow i couldnt choose a better fighter than the other but the fighter i like more is ross. he was tough and the fights of his that are on film are great. in terms of who was a bigger legend in the sport then u gotta go with leonard who is considerd one of the greatest lightweights of all time. Benny hated when his hair got messed up so if the other guy messed up his hair he would try to hurt the guy. who doesnt love the oldtimers

[chops44]

I gotta go with the "Ghetto Wizard", Benny Leonard.

[Spoonking]

I personally enjoy Ross more. The thing with Leonard that always got to me was that he is touted as a defensive genius (i.e. that myth about his part being intact for an entire fight), however the footage i've seen of his fights, shows him getting whacked in the chops often, with his chin up in the air. Can anyone explain to me what I'm missing?

[Sharkey]

Originally Posted by Spoonking

I personally enjoy Ross more. The thing with Leonard that always got to me was that he is touted as a defensive genius (i.e. that myth about his part being intact for an entire fight), however the footage i've seen of his fights, shows him getting whacked in the chops often, with his chin up in the air. Can anyone explain to me what I'm missing?

Are you speaking specifically about Leonard's fight with Tendler that's up on YouTube, Spoon?

If so, it's certainly worth noting that the day-afters from that fight suggest Leonard took more punches in that particular fight than he did at any time in his career, and for some quick examples of that, "Never before in Leonard's career since he has been champion has he suffered as much punishemnt" (NY Times, July 28th, 1922), and "The champion was battered more than in any bout since he won the title" (Hartford Courant, July 28th, 1922).

Considering the opinions of the writers who followed him during his career, that's probably not exactly the fight you'd want to watch when judging Leonard's defensive ability at it's best, although Tendler no doubt deserves his share of credit for catching Leonard as often as he did in that fight, and showing why he was thought of as highly as he was during that time. Saying that, though, I think that fight does do a very good job at hinting at Leonard's evasive footwork, and to a lesser extent, his abilty to cover up and protect himself inside, as well as his ability to duck and turn out of the way of his opponents.

Still, if you ask me, judging Leonard's defensive ability on that fight would be like trying to judge guys like Whitaker & Mayweather's defensive abilities in fights where they were in tough and hit the most out of any other ones that they had.

[RodTidwell]

Originally Posted by Sharkey

I'm a big admirer of them both, but if I was aked who was the better or greater of the two, I'd take Benny Leonard by a shade due to him, with his skills and proven ability, having just a teenie bit more of an impact on the sport and it's followers by my judgement. I'd consider both of them right up there, though, in quite a small group of only a few as being amongst the greatest and most accomplished fighters to have ever stepped into the ring.

As far as who would fit better into the "modern" era, whatever the hell that means...Listen, I'm not a big fan of hypotheticals like this, as I'd much rather us fans spend the time figuring out how good (or great) they were during their own respective careers and how they were measured in the ring against actual and real competition from their own time, rather than try to do nothing but guess on how they'd do against others from before or after their fighting careers were taking place. Judge the likes of Leonard and Ross by what they showed and accomplished during their own times, I say, and you'll see that their stars shone as bright, if not brighter, than any fighter that was around during their careers, and I think that's all you could have asked and/or expected from them.

I couldn't agree more with this post.

As to the question, I personally have Ross ranked one spot higher at the moment on my ATG list, mostly due to his accomplishments in different weights, and being the first to win 3 titles in 3 weight classes simultaneously, a feat most believed to have been achieved first by Henry Armstrong. However, he didn't do it in 3 of the original weight classes as Armstrong did.

[Pro Killer]

I'd give Leonard the nod, But have not seen a great deal of either man!