get to fight srr when he was young and on his streaks of kos? srr had already proved he could be beaten by lamotta so why didnt the rock get a shot? they were much closer in size than lamotta srr. if they had fought then could graziano have beaten srr? he seemed to think so.
Why didnt Graziano "get to" fight SRR?? Because his management wasnt exactly bending over backwards to fight guys they knew could beat or absolutely destroy Graziano. Yes LaMotta beat SRR but Graziano was no LaMotta.
true but from what ive read or heard graziano wanted to fight srr.if this would have happened could graziano have taken ray into deep waters or nail him with his wrecking ball right for the ko?
as to this point, i see no situation where graziano lasts past the 6th the result that occured, KO 3 with a knockdown for rocky, is what would likely happen more times than not rocky still had his power when they fought, cut a decent pace but robinson was better in every conceivable way in every department if i were robinson, i would have pushed for this fight when rocky was at his peak: he was extremely popular, would have brought a ton of money but was thoroughly beatable
Good Question S.I saw Rocky Graziano from his first prelim bouts to the first Tony Zale bout in 1946.He was a threat to ko any welterweight or jr. middleweight,of his time. Wild, cruel, but a powerful right handed grenade thrower,who feated on Welterweights like Freddie Red Cochrane,Marty Servo,Charlie Fusari etc.Absolutely pulverized them.After the Tony Zale trilogy in 1946,Rocky lost something, from those WARS.Never the same fighter. When Rocky fought Robinson in 1952, he was a shell of the fighter of years before.A shell. It was next to his last bout..The prime Graziano would have been a greater threat to Robinson than he was in 1952. No doubt, but Robbie was past HIS PEAK too in 1952. I take Robinson prime to prime over the most exciting BRAWLER I ever saw in the ring,or outside of it...
And heres the funny thing. You say he wasnt the same after his three fights with Tony Zale, which may or may not be true. But, Zale was a shadow of his former self when those fights took place and was at that point steering clear of Robinson himself. So what does it say about Graziano's chances that he took on a past his prime guy who was avoiding Robinson (and LaMotta, because Pian and Winch wanted nothing to do with those guys), came up short, and suffered enough punishment that according to you he was never the same... Graziano was never a great MW or a great WW and while he was a dangerous right hand puncher, I wouldnt say he was a threat to ANY WW or MW unless the actually stood there and let him whack them, even then I think hes overrated based on pretty selective matchmaking. This is the same guy who got a shot at LaMotta and then punched a frigging tree to purposely break his hand and get out of the fight. He was never going to beat either of those guys on his best day. I remember a ring magazine article several years ago discussing a mythical matchup between Graziano and LaMotta. They had a panel of three experts, all well respected and all what you might call old timers today. Angelo Dundee was one. I would have figured at least one to pick Graziano but every one said he wouldnt have had a snowballs chance in hell of beating LaMotta. Based on style alone he has less of a chance of beating Robinson who would simply stay outside landing pinpoint power punches and just pick Graziano apart. I dont see that fight being anything more than 3 round KO it turned out to be at MW.
J, I never saw Lew Jenkins live. My dad did though.Lew Jenkins was a lightweight telephone pole with hair. He drank, rode motorcycles drunk,and was never in top shape for a bout..Rocky,the "Dead End Kid",was lucky he had great handlers,like Whitey Bimstein,and Irving Cohen, who kept him in good shape for his fights.Two tough *******s,they were...
