VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE

Yesterday on Ringside they showed Ray Robinson's TKO13 of Jake LaMotta to win the middleweight championship. It gave me a chance to sit and watch the fight in a way I hadn't in several years.

The thing that just JUMPS off the screen, as it always has for me, is Robinson literally walking out of the screen over and over and over again. It is so blatant the cameraman has to manually change the position of the camera to get Robinson back in frame. Why does that happen? Because Robinson's strategic approach to the fight is to walk the Bull's legs off. Robinson's insight is that his legs going backwards are better than LaMotta's legs going forwards. So every time there is a clinch or an exchange Robinson takes these exaggerated treks around the ring. Not running, because he wants LaMotta to keep moving thinking he's about to catch him. And so it goes.

The contrast of the LaMotta of say round four and round eleven is obvious. In round four Jake is highly active and highly mobile. By the eleventh Jake is stationary and Robinson now has to come to LaMotta to force the action, Jake simply cannot chase anymore. Then the beating commences.

Other things I noticed this time around. Robinson inside was shoeshining the Bull, but they weren't pity-pat punches. These were grinding bodyshots, six or seven in a row. By the ninth round LaMotta looks like a raccoon. His eyes have black rings entirely around them.

This fight was not a one-sided affair until the double digit rounds. LaMotta wobbled Ray at least twice and did some pretty good bodywork on his own. He feels like a real threat for the first ten rounds.

Robinson loved that long right hand to the body. A punch one must be blindingly fast to land and not get popped in return.

In the final analysis, this fight is a masterpiece of ring IQ and in-ring geometry. A genius at work.

Good insight, Marble. My favorite part of that fight is Jake's jab. I know Robinson is great, so anything Jake does is a feather in his cap for me. The heart LaMotta showed was uncanny.

4445Frank wrote:

Good insight, Marble. My favorite part of that fight is Jake's jab. I know Robinson is great, so anything Jake does is a feather in his cap for me. The heart LaMotta showed was uncanny.

It really does say something that Lamotta gave up what 6 inches in reach and could still get his jab home?

He may not be a good guy, but the Bull had a fighting spirit few have ever equalled didn't he?

It's impossible to do, but you think about Lamotta back in the days of finish fights and he'd perhaps have been even better (if his hands would have held up).

4445Frank wrote:

Good insight, Marble. My favorite part of that fight is Jake's jab. I know Robinson is great, so anything Jake does is a feather in his cap for me. The heart LaMotta showed was uncanny.

I only watched that fight for the first time a few weeks ago and thats the thing that stood out most to me. LaMotta's jab. It was beautiful. I really, really enjoyed watching him use it.