dreamfight. lamotta vs graziano....

THE BACKGROUND;The year 1950 was a very good year for psorts in general, and for new york in particular. the yankees under new manager casey stengel had won the world series in 49 and would repeat in 1950;the giants were a force in pro football nad boxing flourished in every bourough in the city.Much of the focus in boxing was the middleweight division,which offered some of the most attractive matches in the sport. srr hag abandoned his stranglehold on the welterweight division and was mocing up in weight.hotshot randy turpin was making waves on the other side of the pond, though dave sands was ranked among the top 3 contenders;and a host of other fighters were pushing for a title shot. holdiong sway over the entire division,however was Jake Lamotta the raging bull.Lamotta had ascended to the throne after the title from marcel cerdan. because of the controversy surrounding the bout due to a shoulder injury sufferred by the frenchman,cerdan was scheduled as the opponnent for lamottas first defense.however cerdans tragic death put an end to the highly anticipated rematch. A year would pass without the middleweight crown being put on the line. although srr and turpin among others werer legitimate candidates for the honor, lamotta chose popular brawler rocky graziano as his opponenet for his initial attempt at keeping the belt.

 

graziano no longer occupied a spot in the middleweight top 10 but the gregorious new yorker remained a force in the division.graziano continued to bask in the glow of his classic3 bout series with tony zale. he had also proven his worth by rebounding from his second loss to zale by scoring a sensational win over charlie fusari and earning a draw with world class tony janiro.Graziano vs Lamotta. Brooklyn vs the Bronx. brawler vs brawler. no doubt the bout bought a number of attractive features to the table. the contracts were signed and the fight was scheduled for july 12th however graziano hurt his right hand and had to withdraw from the bout. a scramble for a replacement ensued and finally tiberio mitri ranked 4th among middleweights was chosen to replace graziano.

 

mitri the european champion came into the bout undefeated in his last 52 bouts. among the italians victims werre turpin and daughtille. mitri and lamotta mirrored each other in some ways:both had solid chins and neither had an overpowering punch, but lamotta had a solid edge in competition. as it turned out, the bout predictably went to lamotta after 15 uninspiring rounds via a clear and unamimous decision,lamotta successfullyt defended one more time staging a furious rally to stop daughtille in the last minute of the 15th round of their belt. lamottas next and last defense of his middleweighttitle came against his nemisis srr. the 32 year old srr capatured the crown in a bout later dubbed the saint valentines massacre a fight that saw a bleeding and battered lamotta still standing when the referee stopped the contest in the 13th stanza

 

as for rocky graziano he would recieve another shot at the middleweight crown.graziano facing srr instead of lamotta managed to drop srr but could only last 3 rounds suffering a devestating knockout at the hands of perhaps boxings all time pound for pound best. THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN;the graziano lamotta fight sparks tremendous excitement especially in the italian neighborhoods. although lamotta is the champion graziano is the sentimental choice.lamottas abrasive personality not onlu alienates many fans but also pales next to grazianos outgoing demeanor and often unintentional humor., however insiders are just certain that popularity aside graziano will have to be at his best in order to be able to show even a semblemce of real competition. his detractors insist that graziano left a piece of himself in the ring after each brutal bout with zale and insist that the challenger doesnt have much left.furthermore the anti graziano faction argues that the crude brawling rocky posessess little more than but a huge heart and a powerful right hand. that bomb will be defused by lamottas granite chin. if srr couldnt drop lamotta in their series of fights what chance does graziano have of doing it?

 

a final argument centers around the fact that many of grazianos wins have come over blown up welterweights rather than against true middles. lamotta on the other hand hasnt been overly impressive in any of his bouts following cerdan for the title. a non title bout loss to robert villemain had been followed by less than impressive inside the distance wins against club fighters dick wagner and chuck hunter and a 10 round decision over non contender joe taylor did nothing to enhance lamottas stature. while lamotta can overwhelm lesser fighters with his swarming tactics, graziano will will welcome a battle in the trenches. grazianos chin though not dent proof like the champions is expected to hold up reasonably well against lamottas lack of one punch power.while the fans and press scrutinize the strengths and weaknessess of both fighters there is no doubting the drama behind the pairing. the fighters are the same age at 28 both have been decidely anti authority both have seen first hand boxings underbelly both bring a street fighter mentality into the ring and both want to be king of new york as much as they want to be the ruler of the middleweight crown. the fight to be held at yankee stadium should be a brawl for as long as it lasts.

 

THE FIGHT; round 1 lamotta charges out of his corner at the bell and graziano meets him at ring center. lamotta unleashes a barrage of punches but most land on grazianos arms and shoulders.leading with his head graziano works his way inside and fires a combo to the body then takesa a big shot to the head in return. lamotta and graziano wrestle the former clinching and the latter trying to pull his arms free. referee mark cohn steps in to seperate the fighters. lamotta paws with a jab. graziano launches a huge overhand right that misses. lamotta counters with a 4 punch combo. to the head and body. ROUND 2 graziano presses the action at the start of the round. lamotta appears content to counter. graziano is missing more than hes landing. its hard to believe but lamotta is backing up and letting graziano follow him around the ring.lamotta drills home a right hand counter that stops grazianos forward progresas. the raging bull flurries winging rights and lefts. lamotta sinks a hook into grazianos belly. graziano winces and clinches. a bih uppercut catcheslamottas attention but the champion scores with his own right to the head. the fighters exchange hooks. theyre going at it. comm slaps lamottas shoulder and sacreams at him to watch the elbows as the bell sounds.

 

ROUND 3; it didnt take this one long to heat up.grazianos corner seemed to be working on the right eye between rounds.it looks like he has some type of coagulant on the far edge of his eyebrow. both fighters are bulling each other arouind but lamotta seems to be the stronger of the 2. a graziano left bounces off lamottas cup and the champ paws at his groin. conn interveins and sends graziano to a neutral corner and is issued a warning for a low blow. lamotta indicates he can continue. he scores with a right cross as graziano comes toward him and moves inside a left and blasts 2 shots to lamottas stomach.its apparent that graziano isnt going to let the refs warnings stop him from attacking the body. lamotta goes upstairs with a combo he isnt missing many punches. a trickly of blood runs down grazianos right cheek. graziano lands yet another right at the end of the round.

 

ROUND 4-6 all 3 rounds are carbon copies of the first 3 for all the movement taking place the fight coulkd hav taken place in a narrow alleyway in either fighters neighborhood.graziano continues to land one shot at a time but misses more than he lands. a 6 punch barrage at the end of the 6th drives lamotta into the ropes and earns graziano the round but it may have been his only one of the three.lamotta is more accurate and more powerful is starting to bust up rockys face.grazianos cut doesnt worsen noticeably but some swelling is obvious under the left eye.

 

ROUND 7 lamotta marches forward at the bell now taking the initiative. its graziano, though who lands the first big punch, yet another overhand right. lamottas knees buckle and he stumbles backward. graziano flails at him seeking to make the most of the opportunity. lamotta rigfhts himself he takes a tremendous left hook flush on thew jaw. how is he still standing? lamotta grabs for graziano but the challenger is having no part of a clinch. lamotta covers up against the ropes. grazianos punches seem to be slowing perhaps hes punched himself out.lamotta pulls off a neat little spin move and escapes the ropes. graziano instantly pursues. lamotta finally lands a combo puncuated by 2 hard jabs. when the bell sounds graziano raises his hands as he returns to his corner.

 

ROUND 8-10as the bout progresses lamotta seems to have an edge in all but 2 or 3 rounds, however most of the others were close. the 8th round is a wash as both fighters decide to take a break, in the 9th a clash of heads turns grazianos nick intoa wide and obvious gash and the rock bleeds freely for the rmainder of the round and most of the 10th. lamotta establishes some momentem at the end of the 9th when he hurts graziano with a wicked body shot and follows with a consecutative straight right double hook combo. the 10th continues in the same fashion with grazianos punches becoming wider and lamotta asserting his will.

 

ROUND 11 lamotta appears to be taking control of the fight. he is moving now and then and graziano is obligingly chasing after him. the straight right is scoring for lamotta and the swelling under grazianos eye is getting ugly. the eye is going to close unless grazianos cornermen can work a miracle in between rounds,graziano tries to corner lamotta but the champion moves away from him. the fighters are in the middle of the ring lamotta fires another right and grazianos wild left overshoots the mark. theres an exchange of hooks. it looks like mgraziano gets there first and with more on it.lamotta bends and throws a half hook half uppercut thant lands very low. now conn warns lamotta. the fights been as rough as expected but htere hasnt been a lot of obvious fouls. graziano misses with a rigfht and eats a stiff right left combo.

 

ROUND 12 graziano looks a bit desperate as he advances. the challenger lands a solid body blow and then comes upstairs with a cross that just grazes the chasmps chin.lamotta is flatfooted and graziano is right in front of him. lamotta snakes home a jab.graziano paws with a jab of his own.lamotta brings his right over rockys lazy jab and crushes the rock with the blow.graziano lurches and goes down!he rises at the count of 3 and lamotta almost bowls over the ref to get to graziano. the challenger isnt covering up hes firing back. this might be the best action of the fight.bothe fighters are punching furiously and graziano goes down again its ruled a slip. graziano runs into a big right hand and is staggered and now clinches. the 2 middleweights pound weakly on each others back and head with their free hands until conn comes over and prys them apart at the bell.

 

ROUND 13-14 lamotta comes out fast in the 13th but its obvious that graziano is still dangerous. both fighters look tired and there is more holding in the 13th than in all previous rounds.lamotta recieves another warning for throwing elbows. the 14th features a brief cdomeback by the rockas he lands some power shots, but at the end of the stanza its the champ thats landing more blows.lamotta flurries late in an attempt to steal the round. lamotta face is puffing and showing wear and tear.graziano looks much worse. a small cut above rockys left eye and a gash at the corner of his right and severe swellinf under his keft eye have turned his face into a groitesque mask.