Omaha daily bee., 1917-06-17
New Lightweight Champ Car
ries WaIIOp in Each Hand, Is
Smart Boxer and Has
Battling Defense.
By RINGSIDE.


one thing TO saw in describing Benny
' Wv NV "er'"
pion OF the worid. lhat is that lie
is as near the perfect fighter as the
ring has known since the days of Toe
Cans, the wonderful Baltimore negro
lightweight.
This little New Yorker. who as
cended the throne bv knocking out
Freddie Welsh, the Briton. in the
ninth round. has everything that a
champion should possess in the way
of boxing repertoire. That means
nr;ncinallv that he has the punch.
The WALTON he carries in both hands
;s of tbe caIiber that rocks an opoon-
emf TO sleen and brings, about a de-
c;sive result TO contests in which he
is narticinant.
But with the punch alone Leonard
would have been unable to get any-
where in his chosen profe sion. With
i he combines a wonderful left-hand
iab which he shoots with the accuracv
of a rife bullet, So fast does the new
champion let that left 90 that he has
beaten many rivals to the punch. and
these same rivals were credited with
he;np marvels as iabbers. That was
the ease when Leonard met Richie
Mitchell in Milwaukee and knocked
him ont in the seventh round.
w.,
has FINE defense.
Then there is the defensive side of
the business to be taken into con-
slaefatlon, $40 .t penny penny III rIod MS inaien 10
essential feature. although few of the
critics have given him Credit for his
great cleverness The reason thew
haven't is because thew have been
blinded bv his wonderful work on
the offense.
But the wise birds who tell of do
ings nupilistic have watched him "in
and outS while he was blocking oopo-
nents with the precjsion of a master.
There is another commitment which
must he Maid to this Leonard how.
and II ;s a comnliment that goes to
few of those who minpIe in the game
of fst;cuffs imbedded in Bennv's
small Uranium is a brain worth its
weight in gold. II might be called a
6ghfinp brain for Benny uses il to
sense out the other fellows tactics
as tactician "brains" the move of
an adversary. If one were to trv
to figure out the value of Leonard's
"think tank" in his successful rise to
the chamnionshin. il is pretty near a
cinch the percentage figured would
,ank mighty high,
,,,:,, n.. r.,
1o.ua ,..;,, saht ..u ~. .. ,,,,
distance now that he has acquired
the title. He has announced that in
tention. His popularity as a hitter
cannot be questioned. To add to that.
he il going TO fight another foe over
the Unknown distance. and that foe
is Germany. Who can saw that Leon
ard is not credit to the boxing
game?
One of the first matches may be a
bout between Leonard and Feather
weight Champion Johnny Kilbane of
Cleveland to see who is champion of
champions" Matt Hinkel has offered
S. per cent of whatever passes the
turnstiles for the privilege of stag
inc the bout in Cleveland.
Another bout urged is one between
Leonard and Charley White. 1t is
true that Bill Gibson has for the last
wear and half avoided a match with
White. You can't blame him for that.
as he was nursing his boxer along
carefully and didn't want such a dam
perous person as White and his left
hook to spill the beans.
.u W.,
uooo Matcn lot west.
1t might be a mighty good stroke
of business for some enterprising pro-
moter in the west to arrange a bat
tie of this kind. Make provision
that percentage of fthe receipts go
to the Red Cross fund. This would
be chance for the boxers and public
to do their bit in the present crisis.
In going over our dope" box we
have dug up a complete list of light
weight champions, from the time Bill
Edwards defeated Joe Collyer, Eng
lish champion, in 1871.
September q, 1872-Arthur Cham
bers won from Edwards on a foul
in forty-five rounds. He retired in
1880.
1884 Jack Dempsey claimed the