As much as I like Duran more, this is all wrong for him. "No Mas" is going to really bite him back. LaMotta was able to push SRR. But then again I hate H2H when there is so much time gap between the two.
Very true but I think Lomatta would be tough for him ..Crazy that Hearns Ko'ed him in 2 and he went the full distance with Hagler but I think the result would have been the same against Lomatta as in he would have lost on pts ..
This is tougher than some people may think. A focused Duran would pose many problems for Lamotta. His defense would serve Duran greatly, as well as his accurate slipping/counterpunching. LaMotta will not change or adjust his gameplan, we all know how LaMotta fights and that gives Duran an advantage tactically, allowing Duran to fight naturally. LaMotta's toughness will be a factor though, Im not sure whether or not Duran can withstand being 100% consistent against 15 rounds of LaMottas punching, especially due to 160 not being Durans best weight. But Duran looked somewhat comfortable at 154 (when focused) and LaMotta was no bigger than Barkley/Hagler/ and even Leanard. LaMotta often weighed under 160 lbs
Don't forget, even while he was fighting at 160, LaMotta was fighting light heavyweights and heavyweights , even knocking out world rated heavy Bob Satterfield. Except for guys like Ray Robinson, Tommy Bell, and Fritzie Zivic, who weren't afraid of anyone, and poor ill-advised Tony Janiro , very few smaller guys dared to take on LaMotta. Roberto was a natural 135 pounder bulking up to fight bigger guys, but not bigger guys who were fighting even bigger guys, like LaMotta would be. Size isn't the be all and end all that a lot of people make it out to be, but LaMotta would have too much of an advantage.
Don't underrate LaMotta's defence, just like Duran, LaMotta was great at slipping and rolling with punches, hoe do you think he was able to fight some of the greatest multiple times, he said it himself, he said that people see him as a very very tough man because every opne thought he was taking all the punches clean, but they were wrong, he was slipping and rolling, few punches landed clean.
LaMotta would win in a similar style to Hagler. Relatively close but clear cut, workman-like decision. LaMotta's own skill/craftiness is often underrated, and the difference in size and strength is too much for Roberto to overcome here.
Lamotta got outboxed by smaller men. The problem with Lamotta is he kept coming and alot of his victories he was down on points entering the championship rounds, then made that last rally to sway the judges or get the knockout as he did against Laurent Dauthuille which was Ring Magazines fight of the year 1950. I think Duran would be winning on points heading into the championship rounds. I see Duran up 9-3 somewhere around there, but being worn down by the constant attack by Lamotta. I think Duran's beard was good enough that he would survive the late surge byLamottaDuran and win a close contested decision.
