Even after Robinson came along by many who saw them both fight throughout their whole careers. Ray Arcel, trainer of Duran, among many, many others when asked who he thought the greatest ever fighter P4P was said something along the lines of "Many people consider Robinson the best, but for me the best fighter that ever fought was Benny Leonard. He had speed, strength, defense and could out-think anybody."
Tendler, Lewis, Welsh, Britton, Dundee, Kilbain and McClarnin, who he lost to are all in the hall of fame. And you can read plenty on these fighters from newspaper accounts of the day as well as other sources.
I take the opposite stance as you. I think fighters of the past get more scrutinized than todays fighters and were given much less concessions. We're talking same day weigh ins, 8 weight classes with one champion in each, sometimes fighting more than a dozen times a year, fighting injured because they needed the payday as the money then wasn't a fraction for most fighters as it is today. We're talking fighting in 2 to 4oz horse hair gloves. All this and I hear people question why many fighters of that time sport so many losses on their records compared to todays prima donna's. Even yourself...maybe it was just the way you worded it, but you asked if "these guys were hof fighters, or probably just B class fighter ala David Diaz or Katstidas". You've made that assumptiom without kowing anything about these guys and nothing could be further from the truth. Im not pointing any fingers, but a lot of guys on here have no clue what they're talking about when it comes to most of these fighters or past era's and just jump to conclussions and make assumption. It takes more than boxrec to understand a fighter, his comp and his era.
Great shout Jab
And Leonard has to be in any top 3 all-time lightweight ranking.
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