One of LaMotta's last major wins in his career: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_IpAGqFzJ0[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ-QflW_OR8[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34jmrCxB1I8[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYMcab3wvEw[/ame]
Hairston was a good fighter, but his natural weight was probably jr. middleweight; and here, he's fighting LaMotta at what amounts to super middleweight. This was not one of Hairston's better performances. For some reason, he looked slower and more flat footed than he had in previous fights. He looked a lot better in his first fight with LaMotta just a couple months earlier, which he probably should've won but was called a draw. He was much quicker on his feet and outsped/outmaneuvered LaMotta for much of the fight. LaMotta had said before that fight that he would retire if he lost, but because he got a draw there he persevered on and had this fight here, and a few other wins after it. Hairston remained a rated contender after this fight but wasn't really as good afterward. He eventually had to retire because of an eye injury he suffered against Bobo Olson, but by that time he had slowed down considerably anyway.
Hairston looked very good first time around against LaMotta and was a very good fighter in general from what I've seen and read. Typical old school skills. I'd thought about doing a thread on him......
