The Power Of Legend

[The Old LefHook]

Maybe we should never question the reputations of former greats when rating them. Just because we never saw Mickey Walker or Greb and their prime techniques, do not have clear film or any film, that is still no reason to doubt the reputations they and other lost fighters earned fairly from their contemporaries.

Say, is anyone else having trouble with the screen slowly scrolling downward while you are trying to write?

[OctoberRed]

Maybe we should never question the reputations of former greats when rating them. Just because we never saw Mickey Walker or Greb and their prime techniques, do not have clear film or any film, that is still no reason to doubt the reputations they and other lost fighters earned fairly from their contemporaries.

Say, is anyone else having trouble with the screen slowly scrolling downward while you are trying to write?

Not much to go, since many newspaper writers were on the take when writing.

[Dempsey-Louis]

Not much to go, since many newspaper writers were on the take when writing.

Back then, 1920s and 1930s I would put more trust in The Ring Magazine (NF) then I would in any one newspaper writer for the reason you suggest. Although I also feel that NF, in his rankings had a bias towards black fighters over white fighters (but that's just my observation nothing I would want to try to prove statistically.)

Of course this only works with rankings and not newspaper decisions. -- It would be interesting to read some of the old Rings and see if their opinion on a particular fight jived with the local newspaper, but those old Rings are hard to come by.

[Dempsey-Louis]

Say, is anyone else having trouble with the screen slowly scrolling downward while you are trying to write?

It sounds like your mouse is sticking; I haven't had any issues with the forum doing that.

[Dempsey-Louis]

Not much to go, since many newspaper writers were on the take when writing.

Elaborating on the newspaper decisions: because so many fights were 'no decisions,' these NWS decisions were often used by bookmakers for ******** purposes and the newspaper writers knew this, so if they were 'on the take' it would have been more of an issue than just their opinion, it would have involved other peoples' money and that may have put pressure on them not to be too crooked; they may have found themselves answering to some very hard people.

[The Old LefHook]

Many people believe Spider Webb was the best they've ever seen. I'm jes sane.

[GhostofDempsey]

Some fighters were/are legends in their own minds, and if they have excellent PR teams, they can convince a lot of fans and media types that they really are the stuff of legends.

[Napoleon Wilson]

Not much to go, since many newspaper writers were on the take when writing.

Precisely.

I mean just look at how over rated Benny Leonard is...

Guy was a glass chinned scrub who beat up bums and was a weight bully....

[Napoleon Wilson]

Many people believe Spider Webb was the best they've ever seen. I'm jes sane.

Like who??????????????????????????????

[Dempsey-Louis]

Precisely.

I mean just look at how over rated Benny Leonard is...

Guy was a glass chinned scrub who beat up bums and was a weight bully....

Are you evaluating him by his post-Depression comeback?

Leonard (I)'s resume includes:

Lou Tendler, Rocky Kansas, Johnny Dundee, Freddie Welsh, Johnny Kilbane, Jack Britton, Ted Kid Lewis, Charley White, --- all multiple times.

No bums here; his had 49 opponents who had over 50 wins when he fought them (Imagine how many if I had counted 40 and above.)

Glass jaw? -- He was stopped five time in 185 fights:

one was the last fight of the ill fated comeback in '32 against an ATG Jimmy Mclarnin

one was a disqualification (where it looks like he was in the tank for money against Jack Britton)

and the other three occurred in his first year 1912.

His career record:

185-22-08 (with NWS)

89-06-01 (W/O NWS)