| Lew Tendler is called
“the greatest
southpaw (left-hander)
in ring history” by The
Ring Magazine’s
editor-publisher
Nat Fleischer.
Yet, as great a fighter as he was, Tendler never won a
championship. The son of
Russian
Jewish
immigrants, Tendler was raised around 6th Street and Reed in
Philadelphia, and was a newspaper boy who began fighting on the
streets to preserve territory.
From his first professional fight in
1913, at age 15, until his final bout in 1928, Tendler fought
the best in four weight classes, including seven world
champions. As a young pro he competed at
bantamweight
and later developed into one of the hardest punchers in the
lightweight
division.
A brilliant lightweight and
welterweight,
Tendler made just one career mistake: fighting in the same era
as the legendary
Benny Leonard.
Most experts agree that Tendler would have been lightweight
champion in any era but Leonard's.
On May 5, 1922, Tendler positioned
himself for a title shot when he earned a 15-round decision over
Johnny Dundee.
He met champion Leonard in two
classic and widely heralded matches, losing the first bruising
battle on a no-decision. Although the younger Tendler had
soundly thrashed Leonard throughout their 12-round bout, the
State of New Jersey
(site of the July 27, 1922, match) had a “no-decision law” that
meant a champion could only lose his title by a
knockout.
On July 24, 1923, nearly a year to
the day later, a
New York City
crowd of 58,519 paid $452,648 to see the pair clash again for
the title at
Yankee Stadium.
It was the largest gate ever for the lightweight division. This
time Leonard prevailed in a 15-round decision — decisions being
legal in the
State of New York.
Lefty Lew moved up a weight class
and defeated the two top contenders for the Welterweight
Championship, Ted Marsh (4-round KO) and Sailor Friedman
(10-round decision). Just 11 months after his second fight with
Benny Leonard, on June 2, 1924, Tendler battled
Mickey Walker
for the World Welterweight crown in Philadelphia. He lost a
10-round decision.
He continued to fight until 1928,
but did not receive another title shot.
After retiring from the ring, Tendler spoke around the country
about his career and opened a popular restaurant in Philadelphia
called "Lew Tendler's" (he later opened a second restaurant in
Atlantic City). |
