New Britain herald., 1925-01-03
(By Joe Williams)

So much has been written of the fistio powers of Benny Leonard. champion of the lightweights, the commentator finds himself up against it to unreol new material. This, however, may surprise you. Leonard thinks more of his left jail than any other punch he uses. And remember a jab is not particularly awesome weapon. IL is, relatively, what the bunt in baseball is to the home run.
 Yet the champion-called by many the greatest lightweight since the days of Cans and Lavigne--insists q left jab to the face has made and kept him champion.
 Now I'll tell you why say this" " went on Leonard. "A jab counts flor a point. It's easy to land. Points win decisions. That's 10 be considered, When you jab an opponent his head goes up. He is off balance. While a man is off balance he can do nothing. You are scoring and. getting nothing in return.
 Here's another argument. When jabbing yon put your glove in the other fellows eyes. You partly ob- scure his vision. Literally you are fighting blind man. This leaves an opening to slip across a heavy punch, a hook or cross, which may end the fight right then and there.
 T have always found, too, tlsat when yon iab, a man drops his hands. This is a natural physical reaction. It offsets the lack of balance caused by the head going back. When a fighter drops his hands he is, of course, wide open."
 Leonard Smartest of All Fighters
 Leonard is shrewd, cunning workman, and easily the smartest of all rresent-day fighters. This quail fly is shown in the way he delivers his jab, By turning his body to the right he lengthens the jab the full width of his shoulder, and in this way is always the width of his shoulder plus the length of his arm away from an opponent. This may not be new stuff but it is undeniably smart. A lot of fighters don't do it.
 Here's another feature about Leonard's fighting style that may in- terest you. He always uses a jab on fighter who has been knocked down. The first thing I do when a fellow gets up after going down is to cross him. l know he is eX- pecting a heavy finishing punch, I don't give it to him. Instead I jab his head back. Nine times out of ten he will drop his hands. And then comes the real opening for a knockout"
 Nobody seems to know just how good Leonard was at his best. It has been popular to compare him with Cans. But Leonard wasn't called on to meet the terrors of the ring Cans had to face, men like Sam Langford, Dal Hawkins, Young Gritfo, Bat Nelson, Kit Mcfarland, frank Erne, Spider Kelly and George McFadden. What Leonard would have done against those hatchet-throWers is a question.
 Real Proof of Champs Smartncss
 Further proof of Leonard ssereat skill and ring smartness is found in his unfailing ability to do better against an opponent the next time he faced him. Leonard won the title from Freddie Welsh. He fought the Britisher three times in l0-round fights, The first two went the limit. Tn the third Leonard scored a knockout.
 Leonard battled Johnny Kilbane. then champion of the feathers, in 1915 and had his troubles When they met several years later in a second test Leonard slowed Kilbane away in three rounds. Willie Ritchie gave Leonard a terrific battle on the coast in a four-rounder, clos ing his eye tight. But the next time they met Leonard knocked him out In eight rounds,