with his dancing attack common to many English boxers of the time, landed more blows, but White's left hooks, though few in number, landed with more force and affected Lewis more. White made a better showing in the two final rounds. World light title attempt, Freddie Welsh, May, 1916 White also unsuccessfully challenged reigning lightweight champion Freddie Welsh for his title. White possessed a lethal left hook, but seemed to lack the killer instinct. This fault cost him in his 4 September 1916 attempt to wrest the crown from Welsh at Colorado Springs. White appeared to have Welsh ready for a knockout in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth rounds of their 1916 match, but failed to follow up his advantage. Welsh backpedaled against the aggressive attack of White, who scored with hooks to the head and body, when the two were not clinching. The extremely unpopular 20-round decision was awarded to Welsh, though White appeared to land more blows, causing a small riot to break out in the crowd. Both boxers clinched for a large part of the bout, which also incensed the crowd. As White threw more punches and did more damage in the fight, he would have been awarded the world lightweight championship by today's rules, winning on points. In 1916, however, a challenger to the lightweight crown had to knockout the title holder, and White did not, losing his chance to be remembered as one of boxing's best. Light title bout with Benny Leonard On 5 July 1920, White lost to Jewish boxer and exceptional lightweight champion, Benny Leonard, in a ninth round knockout before an audience of 12,000 at Benton Harbor, Michigan. The fight was a careful battle of boxing strategy, and White wielded the potential for stronger punching with his left hook. Leonard may have won largely due to his faster reaction time, and reflexes against an opponent who was nearly his equal at times. He showed better speed and agility, and used footwork to gain advantages in the angle of his attack. The hard punching White knocked Leonard out of the ring in the fifth round with his left hook, but failed to follow up. Ken Blady wrote that Leonard was helped up by his brother Charley, and did not arise til the count of nine. Once again White had his opponent down, but as famed sportswriter of the day Hype Igoe wrote "White