Few rivalries in boxing historical past have burned as fiercely—or as personally—because the six-fight struggle between “Sugar” Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta. The game has at all times thrived on antagonism. From the second prizefighting went skilled, grudges have fueled rematches, trilogies, and legacies. Joe Jeannette and Sam Langford clashed 15 occasions within the early 1900s. Jeannette and Jack Johnson met eight occasions. Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler waged their featherweight battles within the late Forties. Joe Louis and Max Schmeling fought twice beneath the shadow of world politics. Leonard–Durán. Ali–Frazier. Ali–Norton. Pryor–Argüello. Durán–De Jesús. Leonard–Hearns.
But none of them—none—matched the uncooked animosity between Robinson and LaMotta.
They fought six occasions between 1942 and 1951. And in these six fights, they produced some of the savage, compelling rivalries the game has ever identified.
Earlier than revisiting these wars, it bears repeating what so many historians, trainers, fighters and eyewitnesses have lengthy maintained: Sugar Ray Robinson—born Walker Smith Jr.—was essentially the most full fighter ever to lace up gloves. To many, he stays the best pound-for-pound boxer of the twentieth century, maybe of all time, with Muhammad Ali the one respectable challenger to that throne. Ali himself, together with Joe Louis and Ray Leonard, echoed that sentiment through the years.
Robinson’s ring identify was born out of necessity. At 16, he wished to compete in an beginner event however was underage. He borrowed the identification card of an 18-year-old gymnasium mate named Ray Robinson. The alias caught. The nickname “Sugar” got here from his longtime coach, George Gainford, who famously stated, “He’s candy. He fights like sugar.”
The Six Memorable Clashes
The timing of this reflection is becoming. On February 5, 1943—73 years in the past this month—Robinson suffered his first defeat after an astonishing run of 125 consecutive victories relationship again to his beginner days. He had gone 85-0 as an beginner, with 69 knockouts, and opened his skilled profession 40-0, together with 28 stoppages. That’s 97 knockouts in 125 fights—higher than a 77 % knockout ratio. Unmatched dominance.
Born March 5, 1921, in Ailey, Georgia, Robinson retired with a file of 174-19-6 (109 KOs) between 1940 and 1965. He stepped away from boxing between 1952 and 1955 to pursue present enterprise as a singer and dancer—ventures that by no means rivaled his brilliance within the ring.
Jake LaMotta, the “Bronx Bull,” born Giacobbe LaMotta on June 10, 1922, compiled a 83-19-4 file (30 KOs) from 1941 to 1955. He died in 2017 at age 95.
Their first assembly got here October 2, 1942, at Madison Sq. Backyard in a 10-round welterweight bout. Robinson, 21 years previous and 35-0, dazzled with blinding pace, sharp mixtures—his signature one-two to move and physique—and took a unanimous determination over the rugged New Yorker.
The rematch, February 5, 1943, modified historical past. Robinson appeared in management via six rounds, using his traditional stick-and-move brilliance. Then LaMotta detonated a crushing left hook to the chin within the seventh. The bell saved Robinson seconds later, however the harm was finished. LaMotta received on factors, ending Robinson’s legendary unbeaten streak.
Robinson avenged the loss simply 21 days later in Detroit. Of their fourth assembly, again at MSG in 1945, Robinson survived a dramatic knockdown within the third and once more prevailed on factors. He defeated LaMotta as soon as extra later that yr at Chicago’s Comiskey Park.
The sixth and last encounter got here February 14, 1951, for LaMotta’s middleweight title. It went down in historical past because the “St. Valentine’s Day Bloodbath.” Over 13 brutal rounds at Chicago Stadium, Robinson systematically dismantled LaMotta, forcing a stoppage in some of the punishing championship fights ever witnessed.
In 5 victories over LaMotta, Robinson—standing 5-foot-11, a number of inches taller—relied on the identical components: lightning-fast mixtures, lateral motion, and precision punching in opposition to a relentless, forward-charging bull who by no means stopped urgent.
Robinson misplaced by knockout solely as soon as in his lengthy profession. It got here June 25, 1952, in opposition to mild heavyweight champion Joey Maxim at Yankee Stadium. Combating in practically 104-degree warmth, a severely dehydrated Robinson collapsed in his nook within the thirteenth spherical regardless of main comfortably on the scorecards. Even referee Ruby Goldstein succumbed to the warmth and had to get replaced mid-fight—an nearly unheard-of prevalence.
Robinson first captured the welterweight championship in 1946, navigating a boxing panorama closely influenced by organized crime figures equivalent to Frankie Carbo. He later turned the primary fighter in historical past to win a world title 5 occasions in the identical division, claiming the middleweight crown on 5 separate events. His middleweight rivalries—with Gene Fullmer, Carmen Basilio, Bobo Olson, and others—additional cemented his legend.
He fought his last bout at age 44, dropping a call to Joey Archer in 1965.
And LaMotta, reflecting years in a while these six savage encounters, delivered maybe essentially the most well-known line of all: “I fought Sugar so many occasions, I’m stunned I don’t have diabetes.”
