Leonard was quick to sense the situation and through the eighth round, he jabbed, hooked and uppercut White at will. In the ninth, Charley was downed on hands and knees but took only a short count. Once more he went down and then Benny knocked him over the ropes. Back into the ring he found Leonard waiting, poised for the “kill.” Though he again put Charley down, it took a fifth knock-down to end the thriller. Split seconds stood between the hard-hitting Chicago challenger and the crown, but as in the case of Leonard when he fought Tendler, brains triumphed over brawn. Had not Charley White “frozen” in that fifth round, he would have been returned the champion. At least that was the consensus among the newspapermen who watched Leonard pull through the round. Leonard was an extraordinary fighter—an artist when it came to providing thrills. Let’s take a look at his fight with Richie Mitchell, the Milwaukee lightweight on January 14, 1921, in Madison Square Garden for the benefit of Ann Morgan’s Devastated France Fund. Richie already had been stopped by Leonard in seven rounds, but he was a good pugilist and the return bout brought out a vast throng of society fans, among them Governor Al Smith who was viewing his first ring battle. There must have been a lot of ruined dresses that night, for before the proceedings were over, frenzy broke out. When the bell rang to start the fight, Benny, very cool and rather contemptuous of Mitchell, walked straight out to meet him with a left to the face and followed with a right aimed at the jaw. It missed the button and struck the Milwaukee boy on the cheekbone, but it dropped him flat. The referee started the count to a scene of excitement seldom surpassed in my experience. The society fans went wild. Mitchell’s seconds bawled at him to remain down and take his time. Richie may have heard them, for he didn’t get up until “nine.” He was groggy. His legs wobbled. He sought to embrace Leonard, but a short left-hook to the chin, sent Richie down again. And down he stayed until “nine.” When he got up, he reeled about in front of me. I saw that he had a nasty cut under his left eye. I saw Leonard leap forward again, bent on making a quick finish. He shot a left to the jaw, followed by a right. The Milwaukee boy rocked like a tree in a storm, then went down for the third time to a volley of rights and lefts. I got one of those reactions I often had when I saw a brave man taking too much punishment. The big thrill suddenly faded into revulsion. For with me there is no thrill without sport, and there can be no sport when one man is hopelessly beaten. Did I say beaten? The revulsion came too quickly. Richie Mitchell got up again at “eight” and ran into another terrific bombardment of solid smashes, hooks, and jabs; but still he wouldn’t go out. He actually fought back, getting home a few lefts to Benny’s face. He showed heroic courage, and courage will work miracles in the ring.