On this day on February 14th in 1951 the iconic Robinson vs LaMotta Valentines Day Massacre took place. Lets take a quick stroll down memory lane.
The legendary ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson exhibited what in the end, was a savage beating over ‘The Raging Bull’ Jake LaMotta to win the world middleweight championship.
It was their sixth time fighting each other at the time, so both men knew one another very well by this point (Robinson won 5 of the 6).
Robinson comprehensively out boxed LaMotta for the majority of the contest.
Towards the end he really turned the pressure up – dropping LaMotta three times on route to a 13th round stoppage victory (in the days of 15 round world title fights).
It was the first time that LaMotta was stopped in his famed career up to that point, where he had fought 95 times as a professional before the bout.
Ray Robinson went on to compile an astonishing professional boxing record that saw him become the greatest boxer of all time in many people’s eyes.
Robinson’s final tally as a pro stood at 173-19-6 (108KO). LaMotta retired with a pro record of 83-19-4 (30KO).
Now, lets take a stroll down memory lane and watch that classic Robinson vs LaMotta 1951 fight.
Happy Valentines day massacre:
