Hello Toughguy. This is a great matchup once again, and already answered greatly by Galactus. Here are my thoughts.
Jake LaMotta was surely a fighter that was willing to give it his all, and was one of the toughest fighters ever in the history of boxing. He took so much punishment at times.
I don't believe that Basilio will be effective against Jake LaMotta, no matter how hard he'll try to wear LaMotta down. Carmen Basilio was a brawler, and no matter how hard he'll try to hurt LaMotta, he won't be able to hurt him.
So this means that he cannot hurt him or outbox him, since Basilio wasn't really a great boxer.
Like Galactus said, both of these men had heart and tremendous chins. They could both take a punch very well.
I think that Carmen Basilio was better at Welterweight, meaning that Jake LaMotta is the better Middleweight here.
None of these guys will back down. They will both give it their all, but no one will touch the canvas because both have great chins.
In a bloody fight between these two New York fighters, I believe Jake LaMotta will win a good, highly competitive unanimous decision victory.
Jake LaMotta by unanimous decision in 15 rounds.
Great fight. Big Tank vs Little Tank. You could argue that Basilio is a carbon copy of Jake LaMotta but that wouldn't be entirely accurate. More accurately, Basilio might be a carbon copy of the way Jake chose to fight, key word being "chose".
The biggest difference between LaMotta and Basilio is that Basilio couldn't box.............at all. He FOUGHT. LaMotta Chose to fight. He was a mauler. However, when needed, Jake did have some skills at his command. I wouldn't go putting him in league with guys like Gene Tunney or Ray Robinson or even a Randy Turpin. But Jake wasn't nearly as easy to hit as was Basilio. He had choices. Basilio didn't. He had one gear.....Forward.
THis Forward gear would cost Basilio against LaMotta. IF anyone can match Jake's heart, it's Basilio. The man didn't know the definition of the word quit. But Jake is bigger, stronger and just a tad faster. He also has better defense, which he would be pushed to use in this fight.
The interesting thing is that this fight would go the distance. For all their respective aggression, neither LaMotta, nor Basilio had One-punch KO power. And, barring a TKO on cuts, both are as close to "unknockoutable" as fighters can be.
Iron chin vs Iron chin. Level 8 power vs Level 7.5 power. In a barn burner, even a knockdown is unlikely.
LaMotta W15 UD.
LaMotta
Ima go with Lammota on this one. He had criminally underrated technique like his jabs and ability to roll with punches and minimizing their effects. Tell u what though neither is getting KOed with that great of chins and heart.
i think basilio would outlast lamotta and take a sd.
15 rounds
