Who takes these fights at middleweight? And why didn't LaMotta never meet up with them at one point in time?
Graziano was a junior middleweight with a great right hand, iron will, powerful legs, almost no left hand, and terrific determination. But against a poweful iron jawed middleweight who had to drop weight all the time to make 160 and carried a bigger frame he ain`t gonna win. Jake flattened Satterfield and took some real dingers from him, is a fighter who also took every shot dynamite puncher Ray Robinson and Irish Bob Murphy threw his way without anyone ever counting 10 over him. Jake always said, that "All the playfights I had with Rocky was just kid stuff, when it came down to a real fight he knew and I knew I could take him." Their fight they made never came off due to an "Injury" Rocky got. It is well it did not as Jake would run him out of the ring, with Rocky bombing away with those wide, overhand, roundhouse shots landing but Jake soaking it all up like candy and wearing Rock down with a steady body beating. Jake on tko before 8 rounds are over. Now as for a matchup between he and Tony Zale, Tony would land big on Jake but could not knock him out, his best chance for a clearcut victory would be to work off his jab and time Jake hoping to bust him up and cut him, along with vicious left hooks to the breadbasket. But I still go with Jake to win here. Tony was faster, sharper and better than Rocky but I feel LaMotta takes his best and outpunches him over the distance...simply a better fighter.
Jake stops both late. Jake could box much better than people give him credit for. Graziano couldn't box at all, and Zale could be worn down. Neither could stop Jake early so he would come on to win.
ESPN Sportscentury had an interesting part about a possible LaMotta-Graziano matchup, on the episode about Graziano. Someone asked Rocky if he'd fight LaMotta. Rocky said "no, we're friends, he'd say the same thing". The reply was "Jake just said where and when?".
In Jakes book he told a story that they were at one time scheduled to fight, but it was called off. Jake said that Rocky was very cagey about who he would fight, and for what price. I also heard that they sparred many times, and that Rocky hated it , as he couldn't hurt Jake. Keep in mind Rocky was just a wild, tough kid with a great right hand. He knew that if he couldn't over power a guy, he would lose in the end.
There's a story that Jake and Rocky did indeed have a fight, when they were in their 50s. Lamotta would have taken everything Rocky had, and stop Graziano late. I believe Zale would not only have stopped Jake late, but put him on the deck in the process. Jake's chin was legendary, so Tony would have ignored it. Jake's chin would not have been much help against Zale's body attack. With both at their peaks, I just don't see Lamotta standing up to Zale's body attack over 15 rounds. Jake would have dethroned Zale had they met when Graziano had his trilogy with Zale however. Tony was a little too long in the tooth by then.
The Sugar Man invested heavily into body punching to try and slow down Jake in each of their encounters, didn`t have much success though. I don`t think Zale would have stopped Jake though even if he invested heavily to the body either, it is not as if Jake was wide open to get hit in the midsection with his crouching style anyway. He might succeed in slowing him down, but as far stopping him with a body shot seems unlikely to me.
Go with Zale to beat LaMotta. Zale could box and punch. LaMotta would eat alot of leather to go the distance.
ray Robinson in the 6th fight landed some hard kidney shots to Jakes body and started throwing uppercut combination straight to his stomach This content is protected
