Who wins this matchup between these two hard hitting lightheavyweights? Both men could hit like a mule`s kick with either hand, although I would give the edge in durability and whiskers to the Irishman Murphy. Nardico while not as durable had a ton of heart though and was ever dangerous even when hurt, and Murphy would have to be wary of coming in on him to finish him off. Charley Norkus made that mistake in his first bout vs Nardico and was promptly dropped onto the seat of his pants for his carelessness, terrific fight that was btw which featured a total of 9 knockdowns seven of which were suffered by Danny. Anyways, I haven`t given this fight much thought yet as to who I think would win as it just popped into my mind while I was watching another fight altogether, but as I type this I am leaning towards Murphy winning by stoppage sometime after the 5th round. Neither man had a very good defence, which is where Murphy`s better durability and chin would come into play, and which is what I am basing my prediction on. I know one thing for sure though and that is that this would have been a very entertaining scrap to watch. An Irishman who hates those damn wops (his words, not mine) against a proud Italian bomber who would be looking to make him pay for his comments. Fight takes place at The Garden and is scheduled for 12 rounds to determine who goes on to face the champion. Any thoughts?
I guess I have to take Murphy as he won their 1951 bout by 4th round knockout. If they hadn't fought, I think I would have taken Nardico, but I guess Murphy's southpaw style did it for him.
I had completely forgotten these two had fought before, with Murphy walking away the winner. I`m going to delete the thread a little later, but have to go out for a litle while first.
It was nothing special really, although still a decent scrap. It looked to me like both guys weren`t interested in getting into another pier-sixer like they did the first time around, and as such they both boxed a lot more and were looking for openings to capitalize on. Norkus landed the harder, cleaner blows which got him the win again.
Raging B., If I might ask, where did you get that comment from Murph about Italians? Murphy's always been one of my favorites, but I 've never seen too much written about him. Although there is a great article, called something like "morning with Bob Murphy" first posted I think on esb., and you can google it. Knew about him from my father and what I read on wikipedia. Also there is a you tube video of the last minute or so from his re-match with LaMotta. Jake won that one, and he's punching Murphy around pretty good in the video, but I've heard the rest of the fight was a real "barnburner", but I've never seen it.
Hello Mike, A long-time trading partner of mine from the Windy City told me the story of Murphy and his intense dislike for Italians. He even tried to pick a fight with Rocky Marciano one time when the latter was eating in a restaurant, and the two had to be seperated before things got really out of hand. As for the return between Jake and Murphy it was indeed a good fight, and in the 9th round Jake was really laying a beating on Murphy along the ropes which had the crowd going wild. It is this second fight with Murphy that really amazes me. LaMotta was old, had a million miles on him and still had moments where he made the younger, bigger Murphy look like an amateur...
Thanks Raging B, Did you friend know him or meet him? Imagine calling out one of the toughest heavyweights who ever lived. Murphy must have been quite a character. I thought the you tube of Murphy and Jake was the last round, but yeah Jake was something. Many people wonder about a LaMotta-Graziano fight, but I think Jake was a cut above Rocky.
