Pep or Leonard?

[JAB5239]

There is very little footage of Benny Leonard, but what there is shows a fantastic fighter who could seemingly do it all. His resume is the best ever at lightweight in my opinion and one of the best all time.

Willie Pep is generally considered the greatest defensive fighter ever, which in my opinion overshadows his offensive abilities. His longevity is something to marvel at and his resume though not as strong as Leonard's is top notch also.

which of these guys would you rank higher all time and who was the better pure fighter in your opinion?

[GJC]

There is very little footage of Benny Leonard, but what there is shows a fantastic fighter who could seemingly do it all. His resume is the best ever at lightweight in my opinion and one of the best all time.

Willie Pep is generally considered the greatest defensive fighter ever, which in my opinion overshadows his offensive abilities. His longevity is something to marvel at and his resume though not as strong as Leonard's is top notch also.

which of these guys would you rank higher all time and who was the better pure fighter in your opinion?

Thats a tricky one, I'm as big a Pep fan as there is I imagine but think you might have covered it in the first sentence. Leonard could do it all so I'm leaning very slightly his way.
Mind he never had to catch Willie Pep

[JAB5239]

Thats a tricky one, I'm as big a Pep fan as there is I imagine but think you might have covered it in the first sentence. Leonard could do it all so I'm leaning very slightly his way.
Mind he never had to catch Willie Pep

Im a big fan of Pep myself but have been ranking Leonard higher and higher the more I research him. I've always had Willie very high, usually top 6 or 7, but it fluctuates. Just a few minutes ago I find an all time ranking done by the International boxing research organization in 2006 that had Leonard 8th and Pep 9th. I figured they would be close but had no idea that so many knowledgeable historians rated them THAT close.

[1SILVA]

Can't vote as I have never seen a full Leonard fight and the only footage I have ever seen of pep are his losses to Saddler. If my father was alive, he'd pick pep

[JAB5239]

Can't vote as I have never seen a full Leonard fight and the only footage I have ever seen of pep are his losses to Saddler. If my father was alive, he'd pick pep

Go to Youtube and put a search in for Benny Leonard. There is a 4 minute highlight reel, and on the same page is a short highlight reel of Pep. Gotta say, Leonards footwork impresses me the more and more I watch what I can of him. The guy is like a matador. Would love to see him in high definition from multiple angles with todays camera speed.

[Guest]

To me they are about equal though Benny Leonard seemed to be the more exciting fighter and a pure unadulterated puncher who occasionally had chin problems than woke up to pummel the hell out of the other guy.

Pep's 62 wins in a row were quite impressive as well, and I've read a lot about the Angott fight which ended that streak.
Pep seems to be forever entwined with Sandy Saddler but Leonard did have his 8 no decisions against Johnny Dundee.

Leonard was more exciting, hell he even had a more exciting death, collapsing in the ring while reffing a bout, but Pep wins this won by a whisker because of his longevity as a fighter although both were great champs.

I have now entered the boxing history section. Yikes.

[Calilloyd]

There is very little footage of Benny Leonard, but what there is shows a fantastic fighter who could seemingly do it all. His resume is the best ever at lightweight in my opinion and one of the best all time.

Willie Pep is generally considered the greatest defensive fighter ever, which in my opinion overshadows his offensive abilities. His longevity is something to marvel at and his resume though not as strong as Leonard's is top notch also.

which of these guys would you rank higher all time and who was the better pure fighter in your opinion?

I'm partial to Pep. I'm a big fan of Pep. But I can see how you could argue a case for Leonard.

[JAB5239]

To me they are about equal though Benny Leonard seemed to be the more exciting fighter and a pure unadulterated puncher who occasionally had chin problems than woke up to pummel the hell out of the other guy.

Pep's 62 wins in a row were quite impressive as well, and I've read a lot about the Angott fight which ended that streak.
Pep seems to be forever entwined with Sandy Saddler but Leonard did have his 8 no decisions against Johnny Dundee.

Leonard was more exciting, hell he even had a more exciting death, collapsing in the ring while reffing a bout, but Pep wins this won by a whisker because of his longevity as a fighter although both were great champs.

I have now entered the boxing history section. Yikes.

You should have been posting here regularly a long time ago my friend. Nice post by the way.

[mickey malone]

To me they are about equal though Benny Leonard seemed to be the more exciting fighter and a pure unadulterated puncher who occasionally had chin problems than woke up to pummel the hell out of the other guy.

Pep's 62 wins in a row were quite impressive as well, and I've read a lot about the Angott fight which ended that streak.
Pep seems to be forever entwined with Sandy Saddler but Leonard did have his 8 no decisions against Johnny Dundee.

Leonard was more exciting, hell he even had a more exciting death, collapsing in the ring while reffing a bout, but Pep wins this won by a whisker because of his longevity as a fighter although both were great champs.

I have now entered the boxing history section. Yikes.

Pep by a whisker..

Blinding post, that man!

[StarshipTrooper]

I have now entered the boxing history section. Yikes.

What took ya so long?

Poet