Benny Leonard

Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was an American professional boxer who held the world lightweight title from 1917 to 1925, making him the longest-reigning champion in the division’s history. He is widely regarded not only as one of the greatest lightweights ever, but also as one of the sport's all-time greats.

In 1944, Leonard was awarded the Edward J. Neil Trophy by the Boxing Writers Association of New York. The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Decade for the 1920s. Leonard was inducted into The Ring magazine Hall of Fame (1955), the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1979), the World Boxing Hall of Fame (1980), the International Boxing Hall of Fame (1990), and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1996).

In 1997, The Sporting News named Leonard the "Best Boxer of the Last 75 Years". Leonard was ranked 8th on The Ring magazine's list of the "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years" and placed 7th in ESPN's "50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time". In 2005, the International Boxing Research Organization ranked Leonard as the #1 lightweight, and #8 best pound-for-pound fighter of all time. Statistical website BoxRec rates Leonard as the 2nd best lightweight ever, while The Ring magazine founder Nat Fleischer placed him at #2. Boxing historian Bert Sugar placed him 6th in his Top 100 Fighters catalogue.

Benjamin Leiner was born and raised as a youth in the Jewish ghetto, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, near Eighth Street and Second Avenue, where he learned to fight the sons of other immigrants. His religious Jewish parents Minny and Gershon Leiner, who immigrated from Russia, disapproved of his fighting but understood his frequent need to defend himself in the poor neighborhoods in which he grew up. His father struggled to support a wife and eight children by working twelve-hour days in a garment sweatshop at twenty dollars a week. His annual take-home pay rarely eclipsed $1400.

Leiner began his professional career in 1911 at age 15. He took the Americanized name Benny Leonard to prevent his parents from discovering he had taken up professional boxing to earn extra money for them and himself.

Leonard was known for his speed, lightning reflexes, excellent boxing technique, and ability to think fast on his feet. Equally important, he taught himself to be a powerful hitter, who scored 70 Knock Outs from his 89 wins. He was defeated only six times in his career and was held to a draw on few occasions. As was common in the era in which he fought, he engaged in many no-decision matches and is believed to have fought in around 96 bouts. He most distinguished himself by decisively winning over 90% of his career matches in his prime between 1921 and 1932, and winning all of his matches decided by judges and based on points.

Leonard debuted his boxing career on a Saturday in November 1911, losing in three rounds at the Fondon Athletic Club in New York. The fight was stopped because he was bleeding through the nose. He won 12 of his next 18 bouts which included three no-decisions, establishing a reputation as a good local fighter before meeting Canadian Frankie Fleming in May 1912. Leonard was knocked out for only the second time in his career. He lost a rematch with Fleming 16 months later. Not surprisingly, Fleming got the first shot at Freddie Welsh, failing to unseat the world lightweight champion in a May 1915 fight, which the newspapers awarded to Welsh.

On August 14, 1914, Leonard knocked out talented contender Tommy Houck in the seventh of ten rounds at Elmsford, New York. Apparently Leonard had learned Houck's strategy after a previous loss to him one year earlier on September 27, 1913, in a ten-round newspaper decision in Atlantic Garden, New York.