Jake LaMotta: Did he have the toughest chin in middleweight history?

09/22/2017 James Slater

As fight fans the word over know, boxing great Jake LaMotta passed away this week at the long-lived age of 95. Tributes have been pouring in from all over, deservedly so, and most celebratory pieces written in dedication to “The Bronx Bull” go into great detail about Jake’s great chin, his unimaginably tough and durable chin.

Truly a phenomenon, LaMotta, who retired from the ring with an astonishing 83-19-4(30) record in April of 1954, outlived his famous ring rivals by a considerable amount of time. The sublime Sugar Ray Robinson has been gone for well over thirty years, Frenchman Laurent Dauthuille, against whom Jake scored that flabbergasting, come-from-behind, last 13-seconds of the 15th-round KO, passed away back in 1971. Tony Janiro, the good looking kid Jake busted up (as immortalized in the classic movie starring Robert De Niro (“well, he ain’t good looking no more”) left us in 1985. And the list goes on.

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RIP Jake LaMotta

09/21/201709/20/2017 Boxing Hall of Fame

The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced its flags will fly at half-staff in memory of middleweight champion “The Raging Bull” Jake LaMotta. He passed away yesterday (9/19) surrounded by family and friends at Palm Garden Nursing Home in Aventura, FL following a battle with pneumonia. He was 95.

“Jake LaMotta was one of the toughest and most relentless boxers in ring history,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy. “The Hall of Fame joins the boxing world in mourning the passing of a legend.”

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Canelo says he’d like to “take out thorn in his side” with a Mayweather rematch

09/15/2017 James Slater

As he gears up for the biggest fight of his career, Mexican star Saul Canelo Alvarez is thinking, at least a little, about the second biggest bout of his career – the one he lost to Floyd Mayweather. Canelo, in being quoted by The Star, says he is not exactly obsessing over Mayweather and getting “Money” back in the ring with him, but he says a rematch is definitely something he would like.

As fans know, Mayweather put on a sensational, nearly flawless display in September of 2013, outboxing the 23 year old and taking his unbeaten record from him. Canelo may have looked like the epitome of a crushed fighter spiritually that night, or rather he did at the end of it, but he would love to face Mayweather again. Canelo says he learnt a lot from the 12 round defeat.

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15 years ago today: Oscar De La Hoya triumphs in his biggest Grudge-Fight as he KO’s Fernando Vargas

09/15/201709/14/2017 James Slater

As he approaches the biggest Grudge-Fight of his promotional career, Oscar De La Hoya can today look back on the biggest, nastiest Grudge-Fight of his own ring career: the one with “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas.

This fight, appropriately dubbed “Bad Blood,” was a 154 pound clash that managed to live up to its considerable hype. Simply put, these two warriors did not like each other; Vargas especially having an intense dislike for “The Golden Boy.”

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Exclusive Interview with Eddie Gregg: “The heavyweights from the 1980s would blow everyone away today”

09/17/201709/14/2017 James Slater

Tall, athletic and possessing fast hands and above average punching power, New Yorker Eddie Gregg should perhaps have gone further than he did. The 1980s contender, most famous for his 1986 KO loss to Gerry Cooney, became a favourite at The Felt Forum, and it was whilst fighting at this venue that Gregg won his only pro title – stopping an unbeaten Carlos Hernandez to collect the New York State heavyweight title in February of 1985.

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Oscar De La Hoya recalls his great win over Ike Quartey: I couldn’t walk for like two weeks afterwards

09/09/201709/09/2017 James Slater

What was former multi-weight world champion Oscar De La Hoya’s finest ring victory: his KO over heated rival Fernando Vargas, his close points win over the defensive wizard that was Pernel Whitaker, his first stoppage win over the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez?

Maybe it was in fact De La Hoya’s 1999 welterweight decision win over African terror Ike Quartey. This fight, one that saw “The Golden Boy” operating at his absolute peak, is also a fight that saw De La Hoya hit the deck – only to get up and win the war with the dangerous puncher known as “Bazooka.”

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George Chuvalo still going strong at 80: Big birthday celebrations to take place on Tuesday

09/07/2017 James Slater

Without a doubt the greatest heavyweight to have come out of Canada, George Chuvalo, the tougher than tough fighter who, as the saying goes, ‘fought ’em all,’ turns 80 next week (September 12).

There are, The Toronto Sun reports, big celebrations set to take place next Tuesday, at a party fans can attend. And Chuvalo, who has famously suffered more than anyone has a right to in their personal life – George losing three of his sons, two to drugs, and also his wife, who tragically committed suicide – has the right to celebrate despite the hardship. A real survivor, both in and out of the ring, George has commanded nothing but respect for decades.

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Featherweight great “Sugar” Ramos passes away aged 75

09/04/201709/04/2017 James Slater

In sad news, it has been reported how featherweight great Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos passed away yesterday aged 75. The Cuban who relocated to Mexico and became a firm fan favourite had been battling cancer.

Turning pro in October of 1957 in Havana (before Fidel Castro’s regime began), Ramos relocated to Mexico in the early 1960s so as to carry on with his hugely promising career and to fulfil his dream of becoming world champion.

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Happy Birthday, Lennox Lewis – The greatest heavyweight champ after Ali?

09/03/201709/02/2017 James Slater

“Not in this lifetime,” heavyweight legend George Foreman on the subject of him fighting Lennox Lewis.

Retired heavyweight legend Lennox Lewis turns 52 today. The last undisputed world heavyweight king holds another fine distinction: that of being a fighter who defeated every opponent he ever faced. Yes, Lewis suffered defeat – by stoppage, at the hands of Oliver McCall in 1994 and to Hasim Rahman in 2001 – but he did what the greats fighters do: come back and get revenge.

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Looking back on some great KO’s in boxing; Lights Out!

09/01/201708/31/2017 James Slater

This great sport has produced many thrilling, moving, shocking and even unforgettable knockouts throughout its history. And though many boxing fans tune in hoping to see other things: skill, defence, speed, overall ring generalship – there really is nothing like a sizzling KO!

Here, in looking back on some classics, these KO’s will certainly ring a bell:

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