Very underrated.......In my opinion was technically brilliant for his style....... Discuss :good [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUYhjX64pDo[/ame]
It was great for his style. He used it to great success in some of his fights against SRR. Lamotta could have been greater if he just had more discipline his life.
LaMotta as a converted southpaw didn't have much of a right hand, but he had a great left hook and a very useful jab.
Yeah man ! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg5Cgcmb4oc[/ame] 7:14, southpaw jabs..... Interesting info GreatA.....that´s new to me....
Jake hurt his knuckle mid-fight in his title winning bout vs Marcel Cerdan. It made it difficult to throw left hooks, so he focused mainly on jabbing with it and using it to set up rights. According to the Detroit newspapers he was very effective and it helped him win (though they also point out the fact that Cerdan was fighting with a completely useless left arm helped as well). Jake also used the left jab to outbox, outslug and batter a young, cocky Anton Raadik, whom LaMotta wanted to give a good beating to for the punishment Anton had given to brother Joey LaMotta. All in all, Jake had a very good jab when he needed it.
I like the way his shoulder comes up and he leans slightly to his right, basically staying very well protected whilst punching, a very hard thing to do.
I don't rate it and you wouldn't tell someone to watch him to learn a jab. What impresses me more is his crouching rolling defense, his left hook, bodypunching and overhand right. He needs the jab and it works for him but its not a good example, his short arms make it harder for him to be good with it
It was the only punch he had, LaMotta was a shocking one handed fighter. I have been saying this for years. Jab jab. Block with face. Jab jab. Block with face. Block with face. Jab jab jab. The fact that this proved effected against Sugar Ray Robinson, ony highlights the fact that all fighters from before the 1970s were abysmal compared to what we are blessed with now.
LaMotta was a fine combination puncher when he was able to set his feet. Unfortunately for him, the great Robinson did not allow him to get set. LaMotta said of this fight, that he was weight-drained and was only truly able to use the jab to good effect because he would have been sapped of energy otherwise. He thought he had hurt Robinson in one of the late rounds, and gave it one last go in an effort to finish him and as a result ran completely out of gas. You can see his good textbook skills against lesser opposition: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp49ew3Uadg[/ame] Of course he was the "Raging Bull" and did not mind taking a few to land one if it made the fight easier for him, but he wasn't some crude wild-swinging bum.