This is Rummy’s Corner.
Good evening boxing fans, and welcome to part 4 of 13 in the new Boxing Survey Series.
This is the scoring system where 20 volunteers provided me with a chronological list of between
10 and 25 names whom they believe represent the greatest P4P boxers who competed in the
1920s.
Let’s rock!
At #10 we have Jimmy McLarnin, an Irish boxer known as “Baby Face” among at least a
half a dozen other nicknames.
McLarnin was a very talented boxer who consistently faced top opposition during his 13 year career.
And just a quick note, the records at the bottom here are included as a point of reference.
Records from that time aren’t always complete, with certain fights difficult to verify.
For this Survey Series, we’re using the current information on BoxRec, which is always
updating, but you may see slightly different numbers if you check the International Boxing
Hall of Fame website.
McLarnin received mention on 8 out of 20, and he was 122 points ahead of 11th place
Tiger Flowers.
#9 is Tommy Gibbons, an American heavyweight who possessed good speed, skills, and power,
and he faced many of the top boxers in his day.
This marks Gibbons as the 4th boxer in the series to appear inside the Top 10 in multiple
decades, where Gibbons finished at #6 in the previous decade, which puts him in the same
company as Tommy Ryan, Jack Johnson, and Sam Langford in terms of boxers who excelled across
multiple decades.
And as you will soon see, we have a few guys from the 1910s who crossed over here into
the 1920s.
Gibbons placed on 12 out of 20 with one Top 5 finish, which helped create a lot of distance
between Gibbons and McLarnin.
#8 is Harry Wills, an American heavyweight who was known for having an unorthodox style
that relied on great athleticism and reflexes along with superb power.
The Black Panther was a three time world colored heavyweight champion, but he was never given
a chance to fight for the world championship, largely because of the color line that still
very much persisted at this time.
Wills is widely viewed as one of the greatest heavyweights, and quite possibly THE greatest
heavyweight who never got a shot at the title.
Wills also finished #8 in the previous decade, which makes him now the 5th boxer to finish
inside the Top 10 in multiple decades.
Wills landed on 14 out of 20, including one Top 5 vote.
#7 is Pancho Villa, a Filipino boxer who was known for his relentless fighting style which
relied on speed, toughness, and agility.
The Filipino Whirlwind captured the world flyweight championship when he knocked out
the great Jimmy Wilde in 1923, marking him as the first Asian flyweight champion.
While champion, he also faced and beat many boxers from higher divisions, and he defended
the flyweight championship until his death, which happened just a few weeks shy of his
24th birthday in 1925.
His premature death marks Pancho Villa is one of the biggest what if stories during
boxing history.
Pancho Villa appeared on 17 out of 20, and he received two votes inside the Top 5.
#6 is Jack Dempsey, The Manassa Mauler.
The American heavyweight was known for having an aggressive style where he carried ferocious
two-handed power.
Dempsey won the world heavyweight championship in 1919, and as he defended that title during
the 1920s, he continued showcasing his extraordinary explosive power which helped enable him to
become a bona fide American superstar sporting celebrity.
Dempsey defended the heavyweight championship 5 times before losing the crown against Gene
Tunney in 1926.
Dempsey landed on 18 out of 20 and he had 8 votes inside the Top 5, including 3 votes
as the best in the decade.
#5 is Mickey Walker, an American boxer known for being a true warrior inside the squared
circle, where he possessed a sensational left hook.
The Toy Bulldog won the world welterweight championship in 1922 which he defended until
he lost the crown in 1926.
That same year he moved up in weight to capture the world middleweight championship, which
he defended until 1929 when he vacated the middleweight title to focus his attention
in the two higher divisions.
Walker appeared on all 20 lists in the Survey, which included 15 votes inside the Top 5,
which provides The Toy Bulldog with a very strong endorsement for his Top 5 finish.
#4 is Tommy Loughran, an American boxer known as “The Philly Phantom”, in large part
because of his sneaky style and his skillful ability to outmaneuver his foes with smarts
and precision.
The Philly Phantom won the world light heavyweight championship in 1927, and he defended that
title until 1929 when he vacated his championship to focus his attention in the heavyweight
division.
Loughran was another boxer who was unanimously mentioned by all 20 volunteers in the Survey,
and he also received 15 mentions inside the Top 5
At #3 we have Benny Leonard, an American boxer best known for having outstanding all around
boxing ability to go along with his solid punching power.
The Ghetto Wizard won the world lightweight championship in 1917, and he defended that
crown until his first retirement in 1925.
Leonard is still regarded as one of the very best, if not the best lightweight of all time.
With The Ghetto Wizard, we have yet another boxer who appeared inside the Top 10 in multiple
decades; Leonard finished as at #5 in the 1910s, which makes him the 6th boxer to do
so.
In this 1920s Survey, Leonard was a perfect 20 for 20, with 19 mentions inside the Top
5, including two votes for 1st Place.
#2 is Gene Tunney, The Fighting Marine.
Tunney was an American boxer who was known for being one of the most scientific and technical
boxers in his time, and he was a clever strategist with great defense and exceptional balance
and footwork.
Tunney had a tremendous resume at light heavyweight, but he is best known for winning the world
heavyweight championship when he beat living legend of the time, Jack Dempsey.
Tunney defended that championship twice, including the Dempsey rematch, before he retired.
It was a tremendous showing here for The Fighting Marine, which was another perfect 20, including
17 inside the Top 5 and four 1st Place votes.
And finally at #1 - the man, the myth, the legend - the great Harry Greb, The Pittsburgh
Windmill.
Greb was an American boxer known for having extraordinary stamina, and as his moniker
suggests, he had a relentless offensive approach where he was always looking to throw, and
he was also strong and fast with an unsurpassed will to win.
Greb won the world middleweight championship in 1923, which he defended until he lost in
1926.
Greb fought 16 fellow Hall of Famers during his illustrious career, and he is widely regarded
as one of the very best boxers in history.
Greb finished at #3 in the 1910s Survey, marking Greb as the 7th man to land a Top 10 spot
in multiple decades.
Greb landed on 20 of 20, with 19 votes inside the Top 5, including 10 1st Place votes.
So here is the final Top 10 List from the 1920s, and I think it’s a pretty damn good
list.
One thing that immediately struck me about the results this time around, is that for
ALL of the guys who finished inside the Top 5 - each and every one of them appeared on
each and every list provided by the 20 volunteers, and each boxer also received at least 15 mentions
inside the Top 5.
That kind of strong consensus gives me the impression that the right 5 guys rose to the
top in terms of the scoring.
But then you look down, and you see some of the other names there - Jack Dempsey, Pancho
Villa, Harry Wills - strong era.
And then along with Tiger Flowers, some of the other guys who missed the cut included
Jack Delaney, Fidel LaBarba, Jack Sharkey, Sammy Mandell, and Kid Chocolate - real strong
era.
But McLarnin clearly had a scoring edge over the next lot down, and Gibbons had an even
stronger edge over him.
And then as you rise to the Top 5, I think this list has a strong consensus top to bottom.
And for those wondering, Tod Morgan was the only boxer receiving a 1st Place vote who
did not place in the Top 10 here.
One of the things I found especially interesting about the 1920s, was that 4 of the boxers
who placed inside the Top 10 here, had also placed inside the Top 10 from the previous
decade.
That’s more than twice as many as we’ve seen with any other decades previously.
We had Tommy Ryan crossing over from the 1890s into the 1900s; then we had Jack Johnson and
Sam Langford crossing over from the 00’s into the 1910s; and now we have Tommy Gibbons
and Harry Wills, along with Benny Leonard, and of course the great Harry Greb.
So 7 boxers in total whose careers crossed over in such a way that they were viewed as
elite Pound for Pound talents in two decades.
But when you dig a little deeper, 4 of those 7 were Top FIVE guys in multiple decades so
far in this exercise.
And it strikes me that these guys are ALL exceptional and are all rightly viewed as
absolute legends in the sport.
Those 4 included Jack Johnson - #2 in the 1900s, and #5 in the 1910s.
Sam Lanford - #5 in the 1900s, and #1 in the 1910s.
Benny Leonard - #5 in the 1910s, and now #3 here in the 1920s.
And Harry Greb - #3 in the 1910s, and now #1 in the 1920s.
I personally find this type of thing fascinating, and it’s definitely something I’ll be
keeping an eye on as we move along.
A very special thanks to the 20 volunteers who contributed to this boxing survey experiment.
I really appreciate your time and commitment.
Thank you very much!
For those who want to participate in the remaining 9 from this series, I provided a link in the
description, and all official submissions must be made in that thread over at boxingforum24.com.
So what do you think of the Top 10 List from the 1920s?
Please share your views in the comment section.
Thank you very much for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night!
This is Rummy’s Corner.