Billy Conn is really slick and really quick. A washed up Holman Williams gave LaMotta terrible trouble with some of the same attributes. Peak Conn is too tough and too cute, plus he does great work of his own, fast, accurate punches born for speed not power, perfect for Jake. Conn's the right man.
Why do you keep referring to Williams as "washed up" when he recently beat archie moore, bert lytell, and gave a prime marcel cerdan a close fight? Briscoe would be hunted down and destroyed by lamotta. as tough as bennie was, he cannot hurt lamotta, he was not stronger than lamotta, he cannot outwork lamotta, and lamotta won't ever get tired slugging it out with benny. I like conn to win a unanimous over jake, with his swift boxing abilities and fast feet
Because he was old. Because he'd gone from winning at the highest level to losing at the highest level. EVERY great fighter he matched that year beat him. That's a pretty neat turnaround. So did Sam Baroudi.
Williams was STILL winning at the highest level as evidence of his recent victories over Archie Moore, Bert Lytell, Charley Burley, Aaron Tiger Wade, Bob Satterfield, and very close fight with Marcel Cerdan. I included all of Holman Williams victories he recorded within 365 days of his fight with Lamotta, Its doubtful he suddenly aged in a matter of a few months as you seem to be implying with all these great victories he recorded in late 1945. * In fact, 34 year old Holman Williams going into february of 1946 was the # 1 NUMERO UNO rated middleweight contender in the World!!
What i'm saying is very simple and this: Holman Williams lost to EVERY great fighter he fought that year. He lost to LaMotta, to Cerdan, Lytell, Moore. He did NOT BEAT A GREAT FIGHTER IN 1946. It's unlikely this would have been the case in 1945, where yes, he beat Moore and Lytell. "A few months" QUITE CLEARLY made a serious difference based upon his record. Williams is still a nice scalp, of course.
