Who would you favor in Cerdan Lamotta part 2?

Somebody should have told that reporter that Cerdan didn't "quit" in his corner any more than Joe Frazier quit in the Thrilla. His corner threw in the towel.

As far as Abrams being past it, he may or may not have been. I can only go by what the record shows, which was that in 1946 he was still a top 10 rated middleweight during what was one of the toughest (and greatest) stretches in division history. Right before fighting Cerdan he'd beaten Steve Belloise, who was another tough top 10-er. Right after Cerdan he beat Anton Raadik, ANOTHER top 10-er. Then he loses a highly debatable decision to a PRIME Sugar Ray Robinson.

That's pretty heady stuff when you think of it . Plus when you consider what a game showing he made against Marcel I think it's safe to say that he had plenty left in the tank. In fact I'm not too sure Abrams wouldn't have beaten LaMotta at that point.

 

I honestly think Cerdan was just a little more forgone at this point in his career than Jake. Just enough for Jake to edge out a decision provided he's fully prepared, which is not a given. I have no qualms with anyone who considers Cerdan the superior fighter. I'd venture to say he was, and that he should probably rank ahead of LaMotta when it comes to a greatest MW or fighters list. This is all subjective, of course.

Why does the newspaper say LaMotta was 26 for the Cerdan fight? I thought he was 27 (almost 28).

 

Abrams barely escaped with a draw against a journeyman with a record of 8 wins and 14 losses, then won close decisions against Belloise and Raadik, who both trashed him in rematches.

He had a pre-war record of 44 wins and 5 losses and a post-war record of 4 wins, 5 losses and a draw. I think it is fair to say that he wasn't in his prime after the war.

The late 40's weren't really the best time for the middleweight division, as many of the past contenders had lost much of their ability after the war and the new ones had not quite taken over. Which is why we saw the likes of Anton Raadik, Sylvester Perkins, Lee Sala and Tuzo Portuguez hanging around the top 10 rankings, men who in truth had no business being there if not for upsetting the odd aging contender or two who had been a factor 5-6 years previous.

 

I wouldn't know Sylvester Perkins from an old beef jerkins

 

LaMotta by decision with KD.

I think he would wear him down in the second half of the fight.

LaMotta woudnt have played nice in the second fight either. He was a rough fighter.

 

Him getting destroyed by Belloise in a rematch also took place within a 9 month span of his fight with Cerdan. The rematch took place because Abrams's win had not been a convincing one. He had not been convincing two months before his first fight with Belloise either by drawing with an awful opponent.

Beating a past his prime Abrams by a narrow margin was impressive enough but Belloise put both Robinson and Cerdan to shame by taking him out.

It also raises the question about what Abrams could have potentially done 5-6 years earlier when he was actually at his best without having to fight in spurts.

They had been strong names, a few years earlier. It's fair to say that the likes of Charley Burley, Tony Zale, Al Hostak and Georgie Abrams were not at their best in the late 40's though.