Boxing Profile: Sugar Ray Robinson

Amazing Now And Forever!
 

I am a fan of nostalgia. Anything old. Movies, books, etc… I even make my family go to those old historic mansion tours with me, although I should probably stop because no one ever seems to have a good time but me. I even owned a 1932 Ford truck once. My father used to tell me I was born in the wrong era. In truth, he is to blame for my passion of

things in the past. He used to take me to antique sales, old movies and of course, as I have mentioned in previous articles, we would sit and watch old fight films on his 32mm projector. So I blame him for my love of the past. The one thing I really love however, is old rivalries. It shows how the sport has evolved over the years.
 
We have had some great ones over the past years. Corrales vs. Castillo is the most recent and Barrera vs. Morales another recent favorite. The Gatti vs. Ward series is yet another. If you keep going back in time, the 80’s had Leonard vs. Duran, the 70’s had Ali vs. Frazier and so on… But to me, the most amazing series of fights in the history of the sport, hands down, is the series between “Sugar” Ray Robinson and “The Raging Bull”, Jake LaMotta. The skill and ferocity involved in those fights, in my opinion, will never be matched again.
 
I had already seen all the fights between the two in the past but this weekend ESPN Classic aired a Ray Robinson marathon and they showed them all again. Afterwards, all I could say was “Holy S*#t! How did they live after that?” But It was the last meeting between the two that really made history.
 
Ray Robinson, of course, is the greatest pound for pound fighter of all time. To become such an all time great, he of course had great opponents. Graziano, Fullmer, Basillio, Maxim and LaMotta, just to name a few. This man was 132-1 before losing his second fight! That alone is beyond impressive. Add to that five plus world titles in almost as many divisions, at a time when there were no junior or super divisions, and Robinson becomes almost untouchable. Not to mention that he only lost 19 fights out of 198 bouts and most of those were incurred when Robinson was way past his prime. Like many have said before, there is Ray Robinson and then there is the top ten fighters of all time.
 
On the other side is Jake LaMotta. His toughness is legendary. “Raging Bull” is a nickname that could not be more suiting. Although Jake was no master boxer or an even above average boxer, he didn’t have to be. This man never took a step back and the word “quit” wasn’t in his vocabulary. Jake came after his opponents with worse intentions than even a young Mike Tyson ever mustered. The most impressive thing about Jake LaMotta is the fact he! never went down. Never! He also had the honor of handing Robinson the first loss of his career, during their second meeting in 1943.
 
Even in the Billy Fox fight that was reputedly a set up by organized crime for Jake to lose, LaMotta
refused to lose on his back. This was just the kind of guy he was. Of course, this can be detrimental to one’s health to take the amount of abuse he did but another thing about Jake that is so amazing is that other than the marks on his face, you could never tell by talking to him he had been in so many wars. Nonetheless, it was his style and it worked for him. I can’t name another fighter that took a shot like the “Bull” did and still stay upright.
 
The stage is set for the fifth and last meeting between Robinson and LaMotta in February of 1951. They had met four times previously and it had always been the classic boxer vs. the puncher: smooth Robinson against the Machine, LaMotta. Although Jake had only won one of those meetings and Ray had avenged that several times over, the f! ans and media packed the house at Chicago Stadium. Today, by the third such meeting, fans and media alike would have tired of the fights, especially with Robinson winning all but one.
 
These two fighters however, were different. Robinson and LaMotta always made a great fight and these two were about to do it again. But no one had an idea on how great of fight this one was going to be. No one could have ever predicted the night of “The St Valentines Day Massacre”.
 
From the opening bell, the action was furious. LaMotta went after Robinson with a fury and look in his eyes that told you this was more than just another fight for him. He was here to prove a point and that point was “You came in the champion but I’m leaving the champ”. LaMotta’s hooks hit with the power of a freight train and he connected again and again, snapping Robinson’s head from side to side. No matter how fast Robinson moved or how good his footwork was, LaMotta caught him. The crowd was on it’s feet and screamed at every blow that LaMotta scored with. For round after round, the champion took punishment and it looked as though he could be taken out at anytime. As LaMotta piled up points and Ray took a beating it was obvious that this was Jake’s night!
 
Except that this was just what Robinson and his corner wanted. They knew LaMotta was going to come in hard and try to take the champion out early. That was Jake’s style. The one thing they didn’t know was how long could he keep it up? Even more, how long could Robinson take it? This was a version of the rope a dope long before Ali practiced it against George Foreman. Except Ray didnt just lay there all night. He knew that would be foolish. But he also knew going toe to toe with a fresh LaMotta was not the best thing to do. So he moved and danced and hoped that Jake would tire before he did. By the 10th, LaMotta was ahead on points and still handing out a beating. Then, like a movie script on cue, LaMotta suddenly started to sink. The pa ce had caught up with him and Ray was ready to take over.
 
The beginning of the 11th saw LaMotta give his last bit of gas at full throttle. He put Robinson on the ropes and let lose a flurry of punches that would have ended ten title fights today. Just as Robinson’s head snapped from right to left, hard enough to cause whiplash, LaMotta’s arms dropped. Not only was he faded, he was finished. He leaned over and sagged like a wet! sock. Now LaMotta was about to get every bit of what the champion had to offer. Bam! Bam! Bam! Two lefts and a right to the head. Followed by an uppercut and another straight right. Two more jabs, a right followed by two hooks to the body and then another uppercut.
 
LaMotta stumbled back while Robinson punched forward. Two more jabs, a straight right and another uppercut. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that Robinson was going to kill LaMotta! Just as you thought it was over, Robinson let loose with another combination right before the bell. You watched and hoped LaMotta wouldn’t answer the bell for the twelfth for his own sake!
 
One writer was quoted as saying “It was a crime, the amount of punishment they allowed one man to take” Angelo Dundee stated, “If compubox was around then the record for punches thrown and percentage landed would still be standing today”
 
The bell for the 12th rang and LaMotta was on his feet, ready to go. The only thing was he still couldn’t get his hands up to defend himself. Robinson jumped in without mercy and took up where he left off in the 11th, pummeling Jake with a flurry that made even the most hardened observers whince. Although the fight was some fifty ago, I found myself saying Stop The Fight! Finally the ref calls a halt to the bout, saving LaMotta from further abuse and perhaps his life. Ending what may have been the greatest exhibition of skill, heart and pure brutality ever seen before or since in any boxing ring.
 
Fights like this do not happen today. They would be stopped long before this point, and for good reason, but nights like Robinson – LaMotta V are what makes this sport so great. Two men in the most primitive form battling it out for supremacy and although Robinson won, both men proved their greatness.
 
There are promoters out there who drool at the thought of a PPV like this. The buy rate would break every record ever held. But the fact is there are not many men who could produce such fights. In any era. The truth is, that is not really such a bad thing, for safety sake anyway.
 
You can match up all the greats; Ali vs. Fraziers, Morales vs. Barerra, Hopkins vs. Trinidad, De la Hoya vs. Vargas and you will have so! me damn good fights. But you could never match what happened when the sweetness of “Sugar” went against the rage of a “BULL”.