There was a fantasy fight thread on the General and people were picking who they'd like to see fight. Most were the usual suspects (Leonard - Mayweather, Pac - Duran etc). I got thinking about another 1. How about Tommy Hearns vs Jake LaMotta at a catchweight of 157 (the weight LaMotta came in against SRR in their 1st fight)? How would people see this going? Both are regarded as ATG's, with Jake handing the great Robinson his first loss, as well as beating the likes of Cerdan, Zivic and Dauthuille. Hearns of course mixed it with the best, KO'ing an old Duran andwas leading on the cards and outboxing Sugar Ray before gassing, (which he went on to avenge regardless of the official scorecards). He also fought Hagler and Benitez (winning the latter). LaMotta has one of the best chins in boxing history, but would it stand up to Tommy's monster right? Could the raging bull get inside the Hitman's huge reach advantage? Would Tommy's suspect chin and weak legs hold up against the man who knocked Robinson down, even if he wasn't a concussive puncher himself? Personally, I think Tommy would hold him at bay with his long reach, controlling the early rounds. His stinging right would catch LaMotta but I think he'd take them pretty well (or as well as can be expected at least) As the fight progressed, Jake would come into it more, trying to drag Tommy into the trenches. While he would be gassing considerably, I feel he would have piled up enough early rounds to take a close decision, probably having to clime off the floor.
Yeah I was going to post it in there, but i miss my British buddies Wasnt gonna post it on the General, all i'd get would be the usual crap about Mayweather and Pac
Well it's a difficult one to pick because you can really go both ways. Both men are not unbeatable when in the company of other greats, and both of these are bona fide greats. This is at 160 pounds right? Hearns has physical advantages in terms of dimensions but not necessarily physical advantages in terms of size/strength. Jake LaMotta's defense and shoulder rolling ability etc is better than is given credit for. Hearns' arsenal is no ****ing joke nonetheless. One thing that needs to be recognised is that Hearns' defense is not masterful, although once he moved up to 154 he became more composed and matured as a technician and seen as though this fight is at 160 and therefore post his 154 campaign he will be able to put those improvements to good use. He is also one of the best exponents of a good offense being a good defense of all time. His jab is testament to that at every single weight he fought at. Hearns was great with body shots but not necessarily a great inside fighter, not at all. LaMotta was fantastic at applying the pressure and was very skilled up close, rolling with shots, countering. I mean classic countering, not moving out of the way and hitting someone in flashy Hamed fashion, I'm talking about feinting and leading a man onto a shot. That would be difficult to do at range against Tommy because you'd just end up eating the jab, LaMotta wouldn't succeed there. But LaMotta could do that up close, where he would be king in this one. If LaMotta had more power I would definitely take him to stop Hearns. I'll say this, Hearns is not stopping Jake, he might be able to win a decision in which the emphasis is on the word 'earn'. I might lean towards Lamotta to come through some heavy bombing and edge a decision, hurting his man along the way but Hearns weathers it. Hearns is capable of pulling it off and outboxing him though, his lateral movement is class, but LaMotta's ability to cut down the ring is too, and Hearns wouldn't cope as well as Robinson did along the ropes, that's the only thing that makes me refrain from picking him out right.
Can anyone who voted Hearns by KO give a reason? I know he was a monster puncher, but this is LaMotta we're talking about.
Think on a good day Hearns would take him the distance and win on points. Nobody stopped The Bull....and don't tell me Billy ****ing Fox
Well considering how many BS stoppages we see these days, I wouldn't be shocked if the ref dived in to "save" Jake at some point!
This but the KO could come at any time, de[ending on how in his shell LaMotta would have the sense to be. LaMotta could only fight with his left hand, jab, jab, jab, stumble fowards, jab, jab, jab. Hearns would take the ****ing **** out of the clown.
You're ****ing crazy. Whatever else the man was, he was hard as ****. Robinson, nor anyone else, didn't even knock him down, much less knock him out
Prime Robinson was not Hearns. Past prime Robinson definitely wasn't Hearns. Hearns would have been an undefeated HW champ in the 1940s.