On this present day in 1951, one in every of boxing’s great rivalries finally got here to an end.
The term pound-for-pound goes hand-in-hand with Sugar Ray Robinson’s remarkable 201-fight profession that lasted from 1940 to 1965.
Many still regard the fighter who was born Walker Smith Jr. to be the best fighter that ever stepped through the ropes of a boxing ring.
Like every iconic fighter, the American legend needed great rivals to take his profession to recent heights.
Manny Pacquiao can have fought Juan Manuel Marquez 4 times of their classic rivalry but Robinson went several steps further than this.
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Sugar Ray Robinson ended his rivalry with Jake LaMotta by stopping him of their sixth bout
Boxers used to compete so way more ceaselessly that you would even have rematches happen the identical month because the previous bout.
This was the case when Sugar Ray Robinson scored his second victory over Jake LaMotta to avenge his loss that took place just several weeks before their trilogy on February 5, 1943.
Two years later, Robinson would record his fourth and fifth wins over LaMotta and after having now competed against him in 52 rounds, there was only a method he could improve upon these wins.
‘The Bronx Bull’ was all the time competitive together with his fellow American despite losing, and while he had moments of success of their sixth and final bout, he was stopped within the thirteenth round.
Robinson won The Ring middleweight title on this present day in 1951 in a bout that was later dubbed ‘The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre’ resulting from the quantity of injury that was dealt to LaMotta specifically.
That is in reference to the famous 1929 murders of seven gang members in Chicago by a rival gang who were disguised as cops.
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Sugar Ray Robinson’s rivalry with Jake LaMotta landed on the large screen in a classic movie
The rivalry between Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta is so legendary that it was all the time going to be difficult to capture in a movie.
Their history with each other was a key point of the 1980 Martin Scorsese movie about LaMotta’s life and profession, ‘Raging Bull’.
The movie greater than lived as much as the legacy of each fighters and is widely thought to be one in every of the best movies of all time no matter genre.
Robert De Niro’s iconic portrayal of LaMotta saw him win his second Academy Award.