BoxRec

I watched the first Emile Griffith vs. Nino Benvenuti fight where the late Don Durphy was the announcer for that fight that before Benvenuti fought for the middleweight title, the last Italian middleweight fighter who fought for the title is Tibero Mitri who fought Jake LaMotta which was true, but he sadly comment the wrong results thinking LaMotta knocked Mitri out in the fifteen and final round which Durphy was wrong. It was the Frenchman Larent Dauthille who was knocked out by Jake LaMotta in the 15th and final round, Mitri went for the full 15 rounds distance which LaMotta won by a decision.

..the mitri fight was interesting. instead of his usual brawl in and bang away style, lamott won this one with his left jab.....he never claimed an injury to the right, but it was virtually non-used during the fifteen rounds and he didn't throw many left hooks.....just jab jab jab. after ther fight the commissioner at the time (don't recall if it was christenberry or eagan) complimented him on his boxing skill in this one, and ;lamotta said something the effect that wanted to show the fans he was more than just a brawler.

kovit wrote:I watched the first Emile Griffith vs. Nino Benvenuti fight where the late Don Durphy was the announcer for that fight that before Benvenuti fought for the middleweight title, the last Italian middleweight fighter who fought for the title is Tibero Mitri who fought Jake LaMotta which was true, but he sadly comment the wrong results thinking LaMotta knocked Mitri out in the fifteen and final round which Durphy was wrong. It was the Frenchman Larent Dauthille who was knocked out by Jake LaMotta in the 15th and final round, Mitri went for the full 15 rounds distance which LaMotta won by a decision.

i always thought dauthille was canadian, or am i getting him mixed up with yvon durelle?
or is he french too?

...he was french....and if he is among the living...i suppose he still is.


i've seen a few clips of that fight on tape. jake lured laurent in by playing possum on the ropes and laurent fell into the trap and attacked and jake opened up with a barrage that won it for him on a kayo. dauthille (sp?) had the fight won by comfortable margin so his fighting instinct won out when prudence would have been the wiser choice.

Dauthuille was from France, but from around 1948 made Montreal his base of operations, fighting there several times. He was a big fan favourite in "Little Paris". His last fight there was against Johnny Bratton in '52 I think.

Cap

Well we're all human, I actually really like Dunphy as a commentator, usually had some good insights and a real respect for the fighters... seemed like good guy, not one of those non-stop chatterboxes we get commentation nowadays!

re: dunphy....right on!!!! best announcer i can think of....heard him on radio for years and he made you visualize the fight clearly...and...on tv....man....he was so good....just pointed out some things that might not be clear to the tv watchers....."..his eyes are glassy...." ..." i don't think he knows where he is" (frazier after foreman's knockdowns)...and otherwise assumed we could see the obvious and kept his mouth shut.

very knowledgable...and very respected and well liked by everyone who knew him.