The Washington times., 1922-01-20

| The III feeling between Leonard and
Tender is genuine and not for pub
Iicity purposes. 1t began when Tend
Ter claimed the title on the ground
that Leonard was a welterweight and
| could not make the lightweight limit
| This was set at 1913 pounds by Tend
Ter, who was little fellow at the
| time.
| Last summer the two were matched
| for a bout in Philadelphia, which was
1 called off by Leonard, who said that
! he had injured his left hand. Tender
| aroused Leonard's anger to white heat
by claiming his forfeit Of $1,000.
Leonard declared that because OF this
action he never would grant Tender
match for the championship, but
weight of money no doubt viii make
him change his mind about that just
as it made him change his mind about
fighting for, Richard.
II Is difficult to forecast accu.
rateIy how Leonard and Tender
would shape up. The champion
never has faced southpaw In the
| ring. Leonard says they are partic-
ularIy easy for him, but those who
have seen him box I'm the gym with
a sidewheeler say that he does not
do SO well against men Of that type.
{ Lew is a great body punisher and il
he should happen to land few OF his
left hooks i'm the region Of the belt
there is no telling how Leonard would
fare after that. That Leonard can be
hurt when he gets down to 1856 pounds
was shown by the way Ritchie Mitch
ell flored him in their bout at the
Garden. .. ..
Next to Tender the man likely to
make the best fight OF II with Leonard
is Sailor Friedman. Friedman re-
Gently boxed eight rounds with the
champion over in Philadelphia and
had no trouble at all standing him off.
Many thought that Friedman deserved
a draw and a few thought that he had
won. Friedman himself shares the
latt"r belief. He says he could feel
Le~.rd weakening and that II he
ever fights him again will enter the
ring with the greatest confidence.
While Friedman caused Leonard
plenty Of trouble and might do 50
again, the sailor Is not a particularly
interesting performer. He has q way
Of launching up his shoulders and
working to close quarters that pre-
that the fans like to see. H..
The man who might make the best
looking contest as long as he lasted Is
Joe Benjamin, the Californian. 1t was
Leonard who discovered Benjamin out
on the far coast, where he boxed with
him in an exhibition bout. Manager
Billy Gibson was so impressed with
Joe's showing that he brought him
East.
At times Benjamin performed bril-
liantly and at times just the opposite,
according to his condition. When he
was in shape he fought well, but he
was not always careful to be in the
best of condition. But all the time
Benjamin was learning more and more
about the game and recently at a bene-
fit show at the Garden he fairly out
shone Leonard, who was also on the
card that night.
Having an idea that he might be
champion some day, Benjamin cut
loose from Leonard's camp long ago.
Now he has reached the stage where
he is ready to take a chance with
Leonard IL he can get the match. The
men have styles that are very similar
Each Is a brilliant boxer and a sharp
hitter. Benjamin has an advantage
in youth, height and reach. In all
other respects Leonard looks best al
though he has no big advantage at
any point.
A return match between Leonard
and Charley White should be inter-
esting because Of what happened
when they met at Benton Harbor.