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. Thoughts
Lamotta comes on late,and has Tommy wilting and his last legs towards the end.. But not the big punch to finish him.. TOmmy takes to much of an early lead though and its too late.... Hearns 9-6 or 8-6-1 decision.... I think Hearns would go into this fight trying to box and be the Motor city Cobral,, besides even if he did come in as the Hit man i dont think he could ko Lamotta....
hearns would have use his jab and do his best to stay on the outside over 12 i am quite confident of a hearns decision win, over 15 i still favour hearns to win but am less certain
Give Jake LaMotta 15 rounds and I think he would get the TKO. LaMotta doesn't have a reputation as a puncher due to his KO record, but it didn't take Iran Barkley a great KO record to stop Hearns. LaMotta, at his peak, was still a very aggressive and physically strong fighter who could also take care of himself defensively without turning overly cautious. I just don't see Hearns lasting 15 when the original Sugar Man himself had his problems, being hurt, downed and nearly stopped in some of their bouts. Even in their last fight, with a slowed down LaMotta and a matured Robinson, LaMotta made an impression with his strength.
Hm, now the more that I think about this one the more intriguing it is! Tommy has a great, class A jab but so does Jake.... I think LaMotta would eventually lose a decision, but it would be extremely close. The right hands that LaMotta would take coming forward would probably be the decider here.
I don't think Hearns hits hard enough at 157 to hurt La Motta. Remember SRR could not stop him. If Hearns realizes this and tries to box for 15 rounds, he has a chance. Otherwise Hearns gets bludgeoned into submission somewhere after round 10. Hearns fatal strategy against Hagler was thinking he could bomb him out of there. In the end he hurt his hand but regardless was going to get broken down. That strategy against Jake the Snake would guarantee a loss.
la motta steamrolls through tommy and stops him early. tommy isn't able to jab and resorts to trying to take la motta out, this looks like world war 3. damn the TS for bringing up a fight i wanna see but never can!
That´s how I see it. LaMotta would stop Hearns late while beeing down on the cards. Would be a great fight. edit: I accidently voted Hearns TKO though.
I know Lamotta has a hell of a chin and underrated defense, I know he took bombs from Robinson and Satterfield. But Robinson did eventually stop him and he was stopped at LHW, I think HEarns would be the most powerful, most accurate puncher he faced and more aggressive than Robinson early. So for that reason I think he knocks Lamotta out Lamota wasn't really much of a puncher mate
i think robinsons chin had much better whiskers than hearns. barkley wasn't much of a puncher either.
