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Lew Tendler is called
“the greatest southpaw (left-hander) in ring history” by The
Ring magazine’s editor-publisher Nat Fleischer. In 1961, Tendler
became the sixteenth prize-fighter elected to the Boxing Hall of
Fame. Yet, as great a fighter as he was, Tendler never won a
championship.
From his first professional fight in 1913, at age 15 years,
until his final bout in 1928, Tendler fought the best in four
weight classes, including seven world champions. A brilliant
lightweight and welterweight, Tendler made just one career
mistake: fighting in the same era as the legendary Benny
Leonard. He would meet 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. 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.
He lost a 10-round decision.
Tendler’s professional record: 167 bouts—won 59 (37 KOs), drew
2, lost 11 (7 by decision, 3 on fouls, one KO by), 94
no-decisions, 1 no-contest. |
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