If anyone at 160lb can floor and stop a prime Jake Lamotta, it's stanley Ketchel. One of the hardest hitters of all time period, with amazing finishing abilities. That said, Lamotta had an iron chin, freakish strength, unlimited Stamina, and very slick underrated defense.
i agree with all the above, except unlimited stamina...Lamotta seldom had to go 15 rounds[3 times]. He ran out of gas in the last Robinson fight. Jake knew how to conserve his stamina very well...Would he had been able to go full blast 20 rounds many times as Ketchel did..? and still maintain his chin ? Who knows? Ketchel,Battling Nelson, Greb, Henry Armstrong , to me epitomized "unlimited stamina", IMO...Good Post S.
I can see a very tough fight. LaMotta is the much better technical fighter, in that brief clip against Tommy Bell he demonstrated the ability to slip jabs and roll away from right hands very well. In a fifteen round fight, I think LaMotta would gain an early lead using his jab and getting underneath Ketchel's wider dynamite packing swings and going to Ketchel's body. Ketchel demonstates the ability to close distance well against Papke by using his footwork (an asset he is not generally given credit for) and a hard stabbing left jab to the stomach. LaMotta has the tools and the defense to outpoint Ketchel...Ketchel has the toughness and footspeed to close distance and force a real dogfight. Ketchel is one of the best inside fighters on film I've seen, he suffocates opponents similar to Armstrong and hammers them. In a fifteen rounder, LaMotta might hold on against a late surge by Ketchel...In a twenty rounder, Ketchel stops LaMotta!
LaMotta is better technically, but is he better technically on the inside? I really don't think he is. Ketchel was a shark on the inside, tearing of pieces of pain in short, bit sized punches that only a truly adept opponent would be able to smother. Robinson, who had nothing like Ketchel's experience inside, found ways of leathering Jake to the body with meaty broadsides. What would Ketchel do? I think he would beat a definitive tattoo and I think LaMotta would be his masterpiece. Ketchel could stop LaMotta and I would favour him pretty heavily to beat him.
LaMotta may take the decision in 10 or 15 round bouts. If it's for 20 rounds, Ketchel probably has the edge. Based on film I don't see Ketchel being better than LaMotta at all but I admit that his best fights were never filmed.
I would say so. Technically there aren't too many better infighters than LaMotta from what I've seen.
Perhaps so. I do know that Ketchel was able to find room and pitch to land serious punches inspite of his being wrestled, pressured and smothered to a far greater degree than anything Jake had to cope with. To put it another way, he is a more proven in-fighting technician against the type of pressure LaMotta will bring.
I like that...Jack The Ripper all who saw Ketchel in most of his knockout fights,called him the greatest middleweight they ever saw...Virtually all...He kod 49 opponents in 64 bouts, and I ,for one who have never seen film of Ketchel,except for his last bout with Papke, where he allegedly broke a hand, must take the written opinions of contemporaries,who extolled him to the skies... A born killer....
Thanks Burt. I really don't think Ketchel looks bad against Papke at all...I know it is only one film, but you can see Ketchel NEVER lets his back touch the ropes, smothers an opponent's offense inside similar to what Duran and Armstrong used to do...reacted quickly demonstrating good footwork moving towards or away from an opponent...That's off the top of my head, haven't seen it for awhile. Ketchel isn't pretty but hedoes what he does...and he is more than effective at it.
In a dog fight like this Ted Spoon must go with the wilder animal. LaMotta is going to tough it out for the majority, if not for the entirety of the bout, but considering their respective styles, Ketchel's jack-in-the-box slugging, and underrated inside trickery would prove hard even for LaMotta to digest. Stanley's not going anywhere either, and he's the one with the bigger jaws. Contrary to a legend bathed in blood and knockouts, Ketchel was a very smart and unusual operator - that inherent unorthodoxy that all the true greats have to plague opposition. LaMotta has the substance indulge in some sustained trading, but the ending will not be pretty. A premier-fencer is needed to pull the plug on Ketchel, LaMotta cannot count on toughness.
