BoxRec

Who you got in a brawl between these two great sluggers...

Rocky Graziano vs Jake LaMotta

LaMotta every time. Graziano might rearrange Jake's face, but he wouldn't be able to finish him, and after he whethered the storm he'd put Graziano away in the late rounds.

LaMotta was in a different league, Graziano was Gatti like for his day. Very exciting and beloved, but not elite. Though he was better than Arturo.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:LaMotta was in a different league, Graziano was Gatti like for his day. Very exciting and beloved, but not elite. Though he was better than Arturo.

Graziano was better than that. I'd like to see Gatti beat a Jr. Welter on Zale's level. Not likely. Better than Gatti, unquestionably. Better than LaMotta? Not a chance. Size disparity seals the deal, though Graziano goes down swinging.

LaMotta for me too.

It would have been one hell of a fight, but LaMotta is one of the toughest men ever to don a pair of boxing gloves.

He'd have gone to hell & back against Graziano, but he would have toughed it out to come back & stop him.

Would be an exciting fight, but LaMotta would win within 10 rounds. His chin would be the big difference.

It's funny about Graziano. For a long time he seemed to be regarded as one of the great middleweights. You almost never heard anyone mention Zale without mentioning Graziano. However, in the last 10 years or so you rarely hear about him and when you do it's not usually people praising him.

Jake and Rocky went to reform school together. One of their bios tells how the best lunch table -the one with shade- was controlled by blacks, who were the largest ethnic group there. After a confrontation it became Jake and Rocky's table.

yeah it would be a great fight but i would go with la motta ,for me the better chin wins

Ambling Alp wrote:It's funny about Graziano. For a long time he seemed to be regarded as one of the great middleweights. You almost never heard anyone mention Zale without mentioning Graziano. However, in the last 10 years or so you rarely hear about him and when you do it's not usually people praising him.

An excellent point.

I'm going with Graziano on this one...

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Graziano was Gatti like for his day. Very exciting and beloved, but not elite. Though he was better than Arturo.

I have to disagree, Graziano was a better fighter than Gatti and shouldn't be compared to him.

Graziano was far from a great fighter, he had a free-swinging style, big-time power, and balls of steel which made him very popular in the NE circuit but his management protected him at all costs and padded his record big time. His one notable W is vs an aging post WWII Zale in their 2nd fight and Tony completly outclassed him in the rubber match in one of the worst massacres in middleweight history.

LaMotta by a clear decision.

But yes of course he was better than Gatti, who never beat one fighter even close to being great.

Crease wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Graziano was Gatti like for his day. Very exciting and beloved, but not elite. Though he was better than Arturo.

I have to disagree, Graziano was a better fighter than Gatti and shouldn't be compared to him.

Did you read what I wrote? Don't you see me saying he was better than Gatti? It's a very valid comparison in that his talent didn't measure up to his popularity.