WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Welcome to another deep dive. Glad to be here 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:05.219 as always. Yeah. And if you are a sports history 00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:08.919 buff or honestly just someone fascinated by the 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:11.560 true definition of greatness, we have an incredible 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.179 journey for you today. We really do. We are exploring 00:00:14.179 --> 00:00:16.960 the life of an American boxer named Lefty Lou 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.429 Tendler. He lived from 1898 to 1970. And our 00:00:21.429 --> 00:00:24.730 mission today is to unpack a very specific, almost 00:00:24.730 --> 00:00:27.469 tragic paradox. Right. We want to figure out 00:00:27.469 --> 00:00:30.809 how someone can be universally recognized as 00:00:30.809 --> 00:00:34.090 one of the absolute best in their field, an undisputed 00:00:34.090 --> 00:00:38.189 legend of 1920s sports. yet never actually win 00:00:38.189 --> 00:00:40.409 the ultimate prize. It's a phenomenal paradox. 00:00:40.770 --> 00:00:43.390 I mean, the tension of his career is just palpable. 00:00:43.649 --> 00:00:45.950 When you look at major statistical bodies, like 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:48.689 the boxing website BoxRec, they rank Tendler 00:00:48.689 --> 00:00:51.090 as the 10th best lightweight boxer of all time. 00:00:51.250 --> 00:00:53.850 Wow. Yeah, and Nat Fleischer, who founded The 00:00:53.850 --> 00:00:56.070 Ring magazine, he placed him at number nine. 00:00:56.270 --> 00:00:59.369 That is elite company. Exactly. He is inducted 00:00:59.369 --> 00:01:01.350 into four different halls of fame, including 00:01:01.350 --> 00:01:03.689 the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the 00:01:03.689 --> 00:01:05.709 International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. So 00:01:05.709 --> 00:01:07.680 we're talking about... one of the true titans 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.359 of the ring. Absolutely. We are talking about 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:13.780 boxing legends here. Yet, despite being a top 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:16.040 -rated contender for both the World Lightweight 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.159 and Welterweight championships, he never held 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:21.459 a world title. Okay, let's unpack this, because 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:24.159 you really cannot understand Lou Tendler without 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:26.299 understanding exactly where he came from, the 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:28.980 crucible. Oh, yeah. The early years are rough. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:33.079 We are going back to September 28, 1898, in the 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:36.049 South Philadelphia Jewish ghetto. This is where 00:01:36.049 --> 00:01:38.730 Tendler is born and his early life is, well, 00:01:38.829 --> 00:01:41.209 it's incredibly brutal. When Lou is only two 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:43.950 years old, his father dies after a protracted 00:01:43.950 --> 00:01:46.769 illness. And this plunges the family into dire 00:01:46.769 --> 00:01:49.609 financial ruin. By the time Lou is six years 00:01:49.609 --> 00:01:52.629 old, just six, he is out on the city street corners 00:01:52.629 --> 00:01:55.530 selling newspapers. Which is a vicious job back 00:01:55.530 --> 00:01:57.930 then. Right. He isn't just selling them. He is 00:01:57.930 --> 00:02:00.780 literally using his fists. to defend his corner, 00:02:00.939 --> 00:02:03.920 his territory, from fierce rivals. What's fascinating 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:06.879 here is the socioeconomic reality of that era. 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:09.939 In the early 1900s, newspaper corners were fiercely 00:02:09.939 --> 00:02:12.379 guarded turf. There were these micro monopolies 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:14.560 on information distribution. If you didn't hold 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.759 your corner, you didn't sell papers. Exactly. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.039 If another kid pushed you off your corner, your 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.479 family didn't eat that night. This isn't just 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:24.419 a generic, tough childhood narrative. It is the 00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:27.990 exact literal origin story of a fighter. He had 00:02:27.990 --> 00:02:30.389 to fight. He was fighting for his actual survival 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:32.610 and his family's survival long before anyone 00:02:32.610 --> 00:02:35.430 ever paid him to do it. The cobblestone streets 00:02:35.430 --> 00:02:37.849 of Philadelphia were his first training camp, 00:02:38.009 --> 00:02:40.689 and they forged a style built purely on aggressive 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:42.909 survival. And he graduates from the streets to 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:45.909 the ring remarkably fast. He actually starts 00:02:45.909 --> 00:02:48.710 amateur boxing around age 12, often fighting 00:02:48.710 --> 00:02:51.370 in tournaments hosted at local burlesque houses. 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:53.810 Twelve years old. Yeah, and then he turns professional 00:02:53.810 --> 00:02:57.000 in 1913. He's fighting as a bantamweight, and 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:00.259 he's unbelievably young. Yeah. Just 15 years 00:03:00.259 --> 00:03:02.240 old. He's still just a kid. What I love about 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.879 this is that his very first professional bout, 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:08.240 which took place on November 6, 1913, against 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.539 a fighter named Mickey Brown, was arranged by 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:13.259 Phil Glassman and the Philadelphia Newsboy Association. 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.199 That is just such a great detail. Right. He's 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:18.360 representing the very newsboys he used to brawl 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:20.599 with on the corners. Think about the mindset 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:23.060 required to do that. Think about what you were 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:25.419 doing at 15 years old. Definitely not fighting 00:03:25.419 --> 00:03:28.780 grown men. Exactly. Tenler wasn't trying out 00:03:28.780 --> 00:03:30.840 for a high school sports team. He was stepping 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:34.060 into a professional boxing ring under those hot, 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.280 smoky lights to put food on his family's table. 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:40.319 It frames everything that follows in his life. 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:42.479 A completely different kind of pressure. There 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:45.800 is a relentless driving necessity behind every 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:48.039 single punch he throws from that point onward. 00:03:48.139 --> 00:03:51.020 Which brings us to the sheer mind -boggling volume 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:55.139 of his career. Tendler had a total of 171 professional 00:03:55.139 --> 00:03:59.039 fights. That's an insane number. 171. But to 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:00.740 really understand how his record breaks down, 00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:03.719 we have to talk about a very weird concept from 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:07.120 this era of boxing history, the newspaper decision. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:09.560 Yeah, this is a crucial piece of context for 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:11.780 1920s sports. Because it's so different from 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:14.110 today. Very different. Back then, in certain 00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:16.689 states like Pennsylvania and New York, actual 00:04:16.689 --> 00:04:19.670 official decisions by judges were banned. This 00:04:19.670 --> 00:04:22.730 was largely due to anti -gambling laws. Lawmakers 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:24.649 thought if there was no official winner, people 00:04:24.649 --> 00:04:27.069 wouldn't bet on it. Right, which of course didn't 00:04:27.069 --> 00:04:29.569 stop the betting. But officially, if a fight 00:04:29.569 --> 00:04:31.689 went the scheduled distance without a knockout, 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:34.750 it was recorded in the ledger as a no decision. 00:04:34.910 --> 00:04:38.290 Just a blank. Basically. However, the sports 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:40.550 writer sitting at ringside, the reporters working 00:04:40.550 --> 00:04:43.490 for the local newspapers, would publish who they 00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:46.009 thought won the fight based on the action. And 00:04:46.009 --> 00:04:48.269 that unofficial verdict became known as the newspaper 00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:50.930 decision. Exactly. So if you look at his official 00:04:50.930 --> 00:04:54.069 sanctioned record, it looks strangely incomplete. 00:04:54.589 --> 00:04:56.490 But if you include these newspaper decisions, 00:04:56.829 --> 00:05:00.189 which accounted for a staggering 97 of his bouts, 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:03.339 his total record is phenomenal. We're talking 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:07.920 145 wins, 38 by knockout, and only 16 losses. 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:10.300 He was an absolute machine. He really was. But 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:12.279 if he's not getting official wins on paper for 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:15.029 over half his career... Who is he actually fighting? 00:05:15.110 --> 00:05:17.829 Is he just beating up local nobodies to pad this 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:19.910 massive number? Far from it. He was clearing 00:05:19.910 --> 00:05:22.069 out future world champions and highly ranked 00:05:22.069 --> 00:05:25.149 contenders. Take February 1916, for instance. 00:05:25.350 --> 00:05:28.430 He decisively beats future world bantamweight 00:05:28.430 --> 00:05:31.769 champ Pete Herman in six rounds. Tendler repeatedly 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:34.050 scored with his right, bloodying Herman's nose 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:36.029 and controlling the entire pace of the fight. 00:05:36.189 --> 00:05:39.769 Wow. Then, in October 1917, he outfights Johnny 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:43.170 Dundee, another future champion. Dundee was a 00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:46.050 highly skilled, famously elusive fighter. But 00:05:46.050 --> 00:05:48.329 Tindler figured him out. He used his reach and 00:05:48.329 --> 00:05:50.769 stamina to completely dominate at long range, 00:05:50.930 --> 00:05:53.290 finishing incredibly strong in the sixth round 00:05:53.290 --> 00:05:55.430 to take the decision in the Philadelphia Papers. 00:05:55.649 --> 00:05:57.810 And it's not just points and reach either. Look 00:05:57.810 --> 00:06:01.410 at June 1919 against George K. O 'Chaney at Scheib 00:06:01.410 --> 00:06:04.670 Park. Oh, that fight is legendary. Tindler delivers 00:06:04.670 --> 00:06:07.240 a devastating knockout. in just 1 minute and 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:09.959 12 seconds of the very first round. He lands 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:12.279 a hard right to the jaw, instantly followed by 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:14.920 a left, and Chaney is completely down for the 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.160 count. Just incredible power. And then we have 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.079 the September 1920 bout against Frankie Callahan 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.620 in an open -air arena in Massachusetts. In the 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:25.879 second round, Callahan tells his manager Tendler 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:28.379 broke his rib. And Callahan actually tries to 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:30.180 fight through that broken rib for three more 00:06:30.180 --> 00:06:32.660 rounds before his body just gives out. Resulting 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:35.279 in a technical knockout before the sixth round. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:38.899 Yeah. Ouch. Just hearing that makes me wince. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:41.279 I can't even imagine trying to take a breath 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:43.779 with a broken rib, let alone taking another punch 00:06:43.779 --> 00:06:46.100 from Lou Tendler. It sounds absolutely brutal. 00:06:46.379 --> 00:06:48.980 It was a brutal era. And the newspaper decision 00:06:48.980 --> 00:06:51.720 rule actually made it worse. Because fighters 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:53.620 knew they couldn't get a points victory on their 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:56.540 official record, it incentivized them to fight 00:06:56.540 --> 00:06:58.930 aggressively. always hunting for the knockout 00:06:58.930 --> 00:07:02.149 to guarantee the win. That makes sense. It shaped 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:05.509 a relentless style of combat. And to put Tendler's 00:07:05.509 --> 00:07:08.089 accomplishments in perspective, He started his 00:07:08.089 --> 00:07:10.329 professional career at bantamweight, which is 00:07:10.329 --> 00:07:13.209 around 118 pounds, and eventually fought for 00:07:13.209 --> 00:07:15.930 the welterweight title at 147 pounds. That's 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:18.569 a huge jump. He was moving up significantly in 00:07:18.569 --> 00:07:21.029 weight, fighting naturally larger men, and still 00:07:21.029 --> 00:07:23.269 carrying his devastating knockout power with 00:07:23.269 --> 00:07:25.990 him. So how was he managing to dissect these 00:07:25.990 --> 00:07:28.990 larger world -class fighters so effectively? 00:07:29.269 --> 00:07:31.970 If we connect this to the bigger picture, a massive 00:07:31.970 --> 00:07:34.209 part of his success comes down to his stance. 00:07:35.029 --> 00:07:37.939 Tendler was a southpaw. A left -handed fighter. 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:41.339 Which was rare then. Very rare. In the 1910s 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:44.800 and 20s, orthodox right -handed fighters simply 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.439 did not have the sparring experience to figure 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.300 out how to adjust to his angles. They were constantly 00:07:50.300 --> 00:07:52.519 stepping into his power. So they were basically 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:54.899 walking right into his best punches. Exactly. 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:58.480 He was a master tactician, leading with his right 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.100 hand to create openings and then delivering that 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:03.639 incredibly powerful left hook. Here's where it 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:06.579 gets really interesting though. All of this dominance, 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:09.519 all of these victories over top contenders, leads 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.560 to the absolute climax of his career, the Benny 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:14.819 Leonard epics. Yes, the fights everyone will 00:08:14.819 --> 00:08:18.639 remember. We are in Jersey City, July 27, 1922, 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:22.339 at a massive wooden arena called Boyle's 30 Acres. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.199 This is a lightweight world title match. Now, 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:26.720 for anyone who knows boxing history, Leonard 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:28.939 needs no introduction. He's the absolute gold 00:08:28.939 --> 00:08:31.480 standard of the 1920s lightweight division. But 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:34.080 for the first half of this 12 -round fight, Tendler 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:37.039 makes him look completely lost. A record audience 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:39.720 of over 60 ,000 enthralled fans are watching 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:41.980 Leonard fail to penetrate Tendler's southpaw 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:44.539 defense. Leonard is widely considered one of 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:46.399 the greatest tactical minds in the history of 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:50.019 the sport. But for five straight rounds, Tendler 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:52.480 has him completely baffled. It's just schooling 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:55.080 him. He cannot figure out the distance or the 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:58.200 angles. And then we reach the crucial eighth 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.840 round. This is the single moment that defines 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:04.279 Lou Tendler's entire career. Yes. In the eighth 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:07.559 round, Tendler crashes a terrifying left to the 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:10.419 head, followed immediately by another terrific 00:09:10.419 --> 00:09:12.659 left straight to the midsection. What a devastating 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:15.940 combo. Leonard is genuinely hurt. He sinks to 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:19.039 one knee, holding onto Tendler's hip. The crowd 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:23.519 is going wild. Lou Tendler is literally moments, 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:26.139 maybe one single punch away from winning the 00:09:26.139 --> 00:09:28.340 World Lightweight title. This is where the psychological 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:31.240 warfare comes in, and it's brilliant but heartbreaking. 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:33.960 Leonard is down on one knee, completely vulnerable, 00:09:34.179 --> 00:09:36.120 trying to catch his breath. The fight is basically 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:38.700 over. It should be. But instead of panicking, 00:09:38.820 --> 00:09:40.899 he looks up at Tendler and actually mumbles a 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:43.120 few words to him. Unbelievable. We don't have 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.100 a historical record of exactly what he said, 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:48.899 but the distraction works perfectly. Tendler 00:09:48.899 --> 00:09:52.440 pauses. He hesitates just long enough to process 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:55.059 what Leonard is doing. Just a split second. But 00:09:55.059 --> 00:09:57.559 Leonard uses that split -second hesitation to 00:09:57.559 --> 00:10:00.679 stand up, instantly wraps Tenler up in a clinch, 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:03.059 and rests his weight against him for the remainder 00:10:03.059 --> 00:10:05.360 of the round. He survives the round because of 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.480 a mumbled sentence. It's unbelievable. And because 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.899 Leonard buys himself that time to recover in 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:13.360 the clinch, he ends up dominating the final four 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.720 rounds of the fight and wins the newspaper decision. 00:10:15.980 --> 00:10:19.220 It's crushing. Tenler came that close. But wait, 00:10:19.259 --> 00:10:20.860 let me play devil's advocate here for a second. 00:10:20.980 --> 00:10:22.779 They have a rematch a year later, right? They 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:26.870 do. on July 24th, 1923, at Yankee Stadium in 00:10:26.870 --> 00:10:30.169 the Bronx. Another world title match, an extraordinary 00:10:30.169 --> 00:10:33.809 crowd of 58 ,000 fans. But this time, Leonard 00:10:33.809 --> 00:10:36.509 wins a unanimous 15 -round decision. Right. And 00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:38.570 the statistics from ringside accounts say Leonard 00:10:38.570 --> 00:10:40.570 landed three blows for every one of Tendler's. 00:10:40.570 --> 00:10:42.549 He totally outclassed him. Doesn't that prove 00:10:42.549 --> 00:10:44.850 Tendler was ultimately just a tier below the 00:10:44.850 --> 00:10:47.629 true greats? It's a fair question, but it actually 00:10:47.629 --> 00:10:51.360 proves the opposite. What that 1923 rematch shows 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.980 is Benny Leonard's absolute mastery of ring tactics, 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:58.179 not a lack of greatness on Tendler's part. How 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.779 so? Leonard spent an entire year obsessively 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:04.360 figuring out how to neutralize Tendler's strong 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:08.279 left hand. He executed a flawless, highly technical 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:11.080 game plan that forced Tendler to become sluggish 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:13.480 and unable to mount his usual offense. He solved 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:16.600 the southpaw puzzle. Exactly. It highlights the 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:19.240 razor thin margin between being a legendary Hall 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:21.919 of Fame contender and a world champion. Sometimes 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:24.600 the difference isn't raw talent or power. Sometimes 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:26.919 it's a split second distraction in the eighth 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:29.639 round or a champion's ability to perfectly adapt 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:31.840 to your strange southpaw stance over the course 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:34.059 of 12 months. The Yankee Stadium fight is also 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:36.100 notable for the business side of things. Leonard 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:38.759 walks away with a massive payday of over $130 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:42.240 ,000, which was an astronomical sum for 1923. 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:44.629 We are talking millions. today's money serious 00:11:44.629 --> 00:11:47.450 money Tendler didn't win the belt but he certainly 00:11:47.450 --> 00:11:49.590 made his money in these massive stadium shows. 00:11:50.009 --> 00:11:52.070 And he doesn't just give up after the Leonard 00:11:52.070 --> 00:11:54.429 fights. He moves into the later stages of his 00:11:54.429 --> 00:11:56.570 career, jumping up to the welterweight division 00:11:56.570 --> 00:11:58.889 to challenge Mickey Walker for the championship 00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:02.070 in 1924. Yeah, they fight at Chi Bay Park in 00:12:02.070 --> 00:12:04.730 Philadelphia. It's a fast, incredibly exciting 00:12:04.730 --> 00:12:07.850 10 -round bout. In the seventh round, Tenler 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:10.409 is driving Walker from rope to rope, landing 00:12:10.409 --> 00:12:12.649 rights and lefts to the body and head. So he's 00:12:12.649 --> 00:12:14.649 looking great again. He has the champion reeling, 00:12:14.789 --> 00:12:17.220 but the extra weight... and the grueling pace 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.419 take their toll. Tendler tires out in the final 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:23.279 two rounds, Walker scores with heavy body blows, 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.059 and Tendler loses the unanimous decision. It's 00:12:27.059 --> 00:12:29.419 a recurring theme. Fighting brilliantly against 00:12:29.419 --> 00:12:31.399 the very best in the world, pushing champions 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:33.519 to the absolute brink, but just falling short 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.600 of the official title. Always right on the edge. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.120 But I want to talk about January 1925 because 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:41.100 this blew my mind. Tendler fights Jack Zivick 00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:44.159 in Pittsburgh. And for the very first and only 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.580 time in his entire 171 fight career, Lou Tendler 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:50.340 is knocked out. It's a shocking moment. In the 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:52.960 fifth round, Zivik drops him spinning to the 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.320 floor for a count of nine. Tendler gets up, but 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.460 another barrage of lefts and rights sends him 00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:01.679 to the canvas again. And that's it. Yeah, Tendler's 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:04.860 manager, his old friend Phil Glassman, the same 00:13:04.860 --> 00:13:07.139 guy who arranged his first professional fight 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:09.820 when he was 15, has to throw in the towel to 00:13:09.820 --> 00:13:12.740 stop the bout. For a fighter who had never been 00:13:12.740 --> 00:13:15.580 stopped, who had fought 140 plus times by that 00:13:15.580 --> 00:13:18.480 point, and absorbed punches from absolute legends, 00:13:18.659 --> 00:13:21.220 that has to be devastating. Heartbreaking. But 00:13:21.220 --> 00:13:23.899 talk about resilience. Just five months later, 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.600 Tendler jumps right back into the ring for a 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:29.100 rematch against Zivic. He didn't waste any time. 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:31.620 They fight in Philadelphia in front of 30 ,000 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:34.980 fans. And Tendler completely dominates him. He 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:37.539 wins a 10 -round unanimous decision. Total redemption. 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:40.659 The local newspaper quotes are fantastic. The 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:42.539 Pittsburgh Gazette -Times wrote that Tendler 00:13:42.539 --> 00:13:46.340 outboxed, outslugged, and outpunched Zivic, especially 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:48.620 in the closing rounds. It's a massive statement 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:51.360 of character. He avenges his only knockout loss 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:54.100 in completely dominant fashion. He proved it 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:56.450 was a fluke. He continues fighting top talent 00:13:56.450 --> 00:13:59.090 for a few more years, like drawing against future 00:13:59.090 --> 00:14:02.129 welterweight champion Joe Dundee in 10 hard -fought 00:14:02.129 --> 00:14:04.809 rounds before finally retiring from boxing in 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:07.570 1928. What's fascinating is how he channeled 00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:10.429 that relentless street corner survival instinct 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:12.730 into his next chapter. He didn't just fade into 00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:15.389 obscurity or blow his fight purses. No, not at 00:14:15.389 --> 00:14:17.970 all. He took his ring earnings and applied that 00:14:17.970 --> 00:14:20.470 same tactical mindset to the hospitality business. 00:14:20.870 --> 00:14:24.629 Exactly. In 1932, right in the thick of the Great 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:27.049 Depression, he opens a restaurant in Philadelphia 00:14:27.049 --> 00:14:30.529 specializing in steaks. He calls it Tenler's 00:14:30.529 --> 00:14:33.029 Tavern. Which is a bold move in the Depression. 00:14:33.429 --> 00:14:35.029 Surviving the restaurant business during the 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:37.090 Depression requires serious business acumen. 00:14:37.289 --> 00:14:39.730 It becomes so successful that he later expands, 00:14:40.149 --> 00:14:42.330 opening branches. locations in Atlantic City 00:14:42.330 --> 00:14:44.590 and Miami Beach. And his personal life is just 00:14:44.590 --> 00:14:47.950 as solid. Around 1911, before he was even a pro 00:14:47.950 --> 00:14:51.830 boxer, he married Celia Lasker. They stayed married 00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.529 his entire life. That's beautiful. They had three 00:14:54.529 --> 00:14:57.990 sons. When he passes away in 1970 from an arterial 00:14:57.990 --> 00:15:01.190 clot, he leaves behind a massive legacy, including 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:04.179 nine grandchildren. It is an incredible contrast 00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:06.919 to his beginnings. You have a kid fighting for 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:09.600 pennies on the literal street corners of a ghetto 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.679 just to defend his right to sell newspapers. 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:16.100 And he grows up to run a successful multi -state 00:15:16.100 --> 00:15:19.279 restaurant empire, dying surrounded by a large 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.720 loving family. It's a remarkable American life, 00:15:21.860 --> 00:15:24.360 completely self -made through discipline and 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:27.159 a phenomenal left hook. Definitely. So what does 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:30.039 this all mean? Why should you, sitting here today, 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:33.500 care about a southpaw boxer from the 1920s who 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:36.500 never won a title? I think Lou Tendler trues 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:39.279 undeniably that your legacy isn't strictly defined 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.080 by the trophies sitting on your shelf or the 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:43.080 official titles next to your name. That is so 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:44.940 true. You can be the absolute best at what you 00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:47.460 do. You can be feared and respected by your peers 00:15:47.460 --> 00:15:49.779 and by historians a century later without ever 00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:51.799 officially wearing the crown. When you look at 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:55.370 his entire arc. You are looking at a 171 fight 00:15:55.370 --> 00:15:57.750 career in one of the most physically demanding 00:15:57.750 --> 00:16:00.870 and brutal eras of sports. You have a pioneer 00:16:00.870 --> 00:16:03.370 of the southpaw style who forced an entire generation 00:16:03.370 --> 00:16:06.220 of fighters to adapt. And a true survivor. And 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:09.879 you have a lifetime of resilience from surviving 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:13.059 severe poverty to rebounding from a devastating 00:16:13.059 --> 00:16:15.460 knockout to translating his grueling work ethic 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:19.419 into decades of business success. This raises 00:16:19.419 --> 00:16:21.139 an important question, though, something for 00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:23.220 you to think about long after this deep dive 00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:25.980 is over. Put yourself back in that wooden arena 00:16:25.980 --> 00:16:31.679 in Jersey City in 1922. If Benny Leonard hadn't 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.200 mumbled those distracting words while down on 00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:37.009 one knee in the eighth round, Tenler almost certainly 00:16:37.009 --> 00:16:38.909 would have landed the knockout blow and become 00:16:38.909 --> 00:16:40.690 the lightweight champion of the world. He was 00:16:40.690 --> 00:16:42.750 a second away. But if he had won that belt would 00:16:42.750 --> 00:16:45.110 we view Tenler today merely as a great champion 00:16:45.110 --> 00:16:47.590 among many? Does the sheer tragedy of coming 00:16:47.590 --> 00:16:49.830 that close to the ultimate prize losing it to 00:16:49.830 --> 00:16:52.450 a mumbled word actually make his legend endure 00:16:52.450 --> 00:16:54.970 even longer? It's something to mull over. It 00:16:54.970 --> 00:16:57.789 really is. A legendary career defined just as 00:16:57.789 --> 00:17:00.789 much by what didn't happen as by the 145 times 00:17:00.789 --> 00:17:03.149 his hand was raised. Thank you so much for joining 00:17:03.149 --> 00:17:05.549 us on this deep dive into the archives. Until 00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:07.609 next time, keep your guard up and stay curious.