Billy Conn or Jake Lamotta who was Greater?

[Joey Giardello]

Billy Conn or Jake Lamotta who was Greater?

[Wild Blue Yonda]

It's a crying shame that several decades after his career, Conn is still, "the guy who nearly beat Joe Louis."

I prefer to see Conn as one of the most brilliant (& possibly, the most under-rated of the legitimate LHW legends) 175lbers ever to lace 'em up. He never gets his due for the simply sensational Light-Heavy he was --- a shoo-in for the top-10 in his division's history (& it's a pretty steep division for all-timers).

I absolutely class him above LaMotta.

[Joey Giardello]

It's a crying shame that several decades after his career, Conn is still, "the guy who nearly beat Joe Louis."

I prefer to see Conn as one of the most brilliant (& possibly, the most under-rated of the legitimate LHW legends) 175lbers ever to lace 'em up. He never gets his due for the simply sensational Light-Heavy he was --- a shoo-in for the top-10 in his division's history.

I absolutely class him above LaMotta.

What are your thoughts on conn's time as a heavyweight?

[Wild Blue Yonda]

What are your thoughts on conn's time as a heavyweight?

I think he acquitted himself quite nicely. He was as close as anyone to beating a prime (perhaps a little worn out temporarily at the time they fought, but still in his fighting pomp) Louis, & while we talk about that so much, it really bears stopping for a moment to think about. It was a fabulous display, equal or comparable to any non-natural HW beating a top-15 all-time Heavy (better, for example, than Moorer's victory over Holyfield), but the discussion surrounding that fight has been done to death, so what about the rest of it?

Well, he knocked out Bob Pastor --- a function of precision-punching in the absence of power (always a mark of a great fighter) & decisioned Lee Savold, not bad going. The mark against him at HW was that he had few fights there, but he never really looked like he lacked anything (sans a true HW punch) to compete with the bigger boys. For the time he did spend as a HW, he was never embarrassed (save for the rematch with Louis, when both were past their primes), but never was Conn accused prior to that of being out of his depth.

When you're from a lower weightclass, & you're moving up to tackle Heavies without a devastating punch, you'd better be pretty sound in the rest of your departments, & Conn was just that. His footspeed (including footwork & positioning, specifically), handspeed, combinations (another under-sold element of Conn was his ability to put punches together) meant he translated into a force at any weight, which says a lot for him as both a LHW & HW.

I do feel there are some really in-grained myths & exaggerations surrounding the first fight with Louis, & it's high-time those were dispelled for good.