Baby Arizmendi also had a noggin so huge it had its own weather system........ This content is protected
Hagler would seem to be an exception to this rule of a large cranium as a prerequisite for punch resistance. He wasn't huge as middleweights go. (My sister was surprised at his true size when they met at the law firm she worked at in Boston during the early 1980s.) At his peak, a medical scan of his head revealed his skull to be completely normal, but the sheath of muscle surrounding it to be an inch thick, rather than the average of a quarter inch in depth. A case can be made that his ability to take a punch to the head was actually superior to that of LaMotta, Toney (legitimately downed by RJJ when weight drained and baited), Monzon (decked by Valdez and seriously stunned by Briscoe) and other middleweights noted for their toughness and durability. (Are there even any reports of Hagler's knees ever buckling and having to hang on after taking a hard shot, let alone getting dropped by a punch?) According to what reports indicate, WW Walker was able to hurt a post prime Greb more than Cyclone Hart, Hearns and Mugabe were able to stun Hagler, although the seven or so knockdowns Harry sustained in his career were against much heavier opposition. (And we never got to find out how many times Marv would have been decked in 300 outings, frequently against much larger competition.) The 145 pound SRR is supposed to have hurt LaMotta in the fourth round of fight three in their series. Lou Woods was reported to have come close to knocking Jake down (and making him hold on, something Hagler did rarely, if ever), Fritzie Zivic to have exchanged a number of stunners with him in their final match, and Satterfield and LLoyd Marshall were also credited with having shaken him. LaMotta himself has always said, just as Chuvalo has, that his defensive skills were subtle and very underrated. Caveman (not that he had much of a chance to try), Boogaloo, SRS (Seales), SRL, The Worm, Bad Bennie, Obel, Sibbo, Tommy Gun, The Beast, El Cholo, El Martillo, Minter, Scypion and Cyclone are an imposing gauntlet of MW chin checkers to fight through by the standard of any era. Referee Frank Sikora did save a drained and weight weakened Jake from hitting the deck at the end of the Valentine's Day Massacre. There was still a minute left in round 13, and LaMotta had no chance of keeping upright if Sikora hadn't stepped in when he did, or unless Jake's corner threw in the towel before that could happen. (The finishing salvo was delivered nearest to LaMotta's corner, with Sikora facing in that direction, so this might have been feasible. Jake had begun tottering that way, and maybe he could have reached his corner before touching down, maybe not.) I shudder to think of what might have happened if Ruby Goldstein had been the third man in that one. (Satan probably also breathed a sigh of relieve when Sikora stopped it. He's not looking forward to being evicted from Hell when LaMotta gets there and kicks him out.)
lamotta roled with a punch. He was superb at minimising the impact by expertly twisting with the direction of the blow. punches would graze his forehead. Jake did have a big head that hung low into his shoulders. if he was clipped his chin was locked down into his own chest between his shoulders where it could brace an impact. his head wasnt up in the air on the end of a long thin neck taking the full force. george chuvalo had a big head but agian he had a short neck and high shoulders.
:yikes Excuse me? SNV is what the ladies adore and the men envy. Russia Today! reported he is hitting Wilt Chamberlain numbers. Fact. He's unbelievably handsome. His handsome to manly ratio is a perfect 1:1. Source: The Russian Institute of Sexuality and Symmetry Sciences. Sort yourself out, my brother. :bart