Fullmer was completely stonewalled when he tried brawling with Tiger, and had to resort to moving to survive. How does the middleweight division's other great battleship, LaMotta fare?
This wouldve been a war. Tiger loved guys that came him. He generally chewed them up and spit them out. I think Jake gives him indigestion and wins a close decision on higher activity.
No significant Eras difference here; in a word Dick takes some shots but, IMO lands his big stuff throughout semi-chewing up Jake. At the end Jake looks much more worse for the wear with the great Tiger taking an exciting UD which would be disputed by no one. My $0.02
****. Probably Tiger in one for the ages. Like klompton says, he just chewed up and spat out those who came at him (though it's hard to imagine any middleweight chewing up and spitting out Jake to be fair). LaMotta had genuine guile to go with his relentlessness and swarming output; the exchanges up close and wrangling for dominance would probably move continents at times but I only envision one winner in that scenario, however competitive. Tiger was an absolute surgeon when he was able to set his feet, clusters of clubbing but sophisticated pinpoint counterpunches the likes of which I could see threading through LaMottas flurrying, winging bursts. He was great at forcing room on the inside and shortening his punches if anyone tried to crowd him and was the strongest middleweight I've ever seen.
On a tangent, I've often wondered how Valdez would've done against Tiger and LaMotta. All guys favoured as a matter of fact to batter just about anyone their own size who met them head on. Some classic fights there in a round-robin.
Now you're talking about 'my boy'. Briefly, I see Rodrigo winning both fights, a beat down war in both. Valdez had a set of 'whiskers' so he's going to be able to take some big shots. Probably a UD both ways IMO but if he could find that 3-4-5 punch combo of his at some point Dick or Jake could be in some deep doo-doo. Lastly, there's a bit of an eras difference here which has to come into play. I love Dick Tiger, tough SOB. As was Jake.
LaMotta was better than Fullmer but not any stronger and lacked the power to keep Tiger from outmuscling him. Jake's skill and chin keep him in the fight I am not sure if Jake has the stamina
Wow, what a scrap. I pick LaMotta by a split decision, but I wouldn't wager a penny of my own cash on it. Would happily pay to see it, though.
