Near the end of the 13th round the referee called the fight. For nearly three rounds he pummeled LaMotta’s face until the middleweight champion was lying helpless against the ropes unable to lift his arms in defense. Robinson was slightly ahead on points at the beginning of the 11th round when he let loose a vicious barrage of lightning fast left jabs, right hooks, and uppercuts. It was the classic battle between the boxer and the puncher. It was as good as (or better than) Ali-Frazier III. As I watched the fight yesterday, 62 years later, I could see clearly why it loomed so large in my dad’s memory. When they met in Chicago, on Valentine’s Day, 1951 Sugar Ray Robinson was the welterweight champion of the world, and LaMotta the middleweight champion. They fought twice more before LaMotta, who was always 16 pounds heavier, moved up to middleweight, with Robinson winning both by unanimous decision.
Robinson won the rematch three weeks later, despite being knocked down for a 9 count. It was Sugar Ray’s first defeat in the ring – ever. LaMotta won the second, by decision, knocking Robinson out of the ring. Robinson won their initial fight by decision, despite being knocked down by LaMotta in the 1st. Their last fight ended when Robinson TKO’d LaMotta in the 13th round. Their first five fights were ended by decision. He fought Jake LaMotta 6 times from 1940 to 1951. Many still consider Sugar Ray Robinson, pound for pound, the greatest boxer who ever lived. The 52-year-old Robinson boxed most of the match with his right hand held behind his back and never got his hair mussed. He (a middleweight) boxed the heavyweight champion of Trinidad and Tobago. He had seen him box an exhibition bout in Trinidad the year I was born.
Valentine’s Day Massacre,” the sixth bout between Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta. ESPN Classic Boxing On Demand is currently running a match my dad told me about for years.
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