Why did Rocky Graziano never fight Jake LaMotta?

[Willow The Wisp]

Graziano was a much harder hitter, but that wouldn't have helped much against Lamotta.

[Ivich]

They were actually signed to fight.

Graziano injured his hand in training and LaMotta fought Mitri instead.

There is even a picture from a press conference with them looking backward at the camera and winking while holding the contracts.

"Injured his hand in training," Yeah I read that,I also read he punched a tree trunk to injure it. True or not ,he never went near Jake.

[Willow The Wisp]

"Injured his hand in training," Yeah I read that,I also read he punched a tree trunk to injure it. True or not ,he never went near Jake.

Well.......
https://youtu.be/MotQuuVLVDc

[GhostofDempsey]

This is a no-brainer…LaMotta wins this easily by wide decision if he chose to carry Rocky, or late round stoppage. Graziano was not in LaMotta’s league. Jake had taken the best punches of much bigger punchers like Satterfield, Robinson, Murphy, and much better boxers like Cerdan, Williams and Lytell. Jake fought very competitively with Robinson a half dozen times, Rocky was nearly decapitated by Robinson in just a few rounds.

[Zaroku]

A fight where guys would be spaying blood

Not something that can be on ABC
with Howard Costel covered in blood!

[Willow The Wisp]

This is a no-brainer…LaMotta wins this easily by wide decision if he chose to carry Rocky, or late round stoppage. Graziano was not in LaMotta’s league. Jake had taken the best punches of much bigger punchers like Satterfield, Robinson, Murphy, and much better boxers like Cerdan, Williams and Lytell. Jake fought very competitively with Robinson a half dozen times, Rocky was nearly decapitated by Robinson in just a few rounds.

To be fair though, Cerdan lost due to injury and Graziano was past his best for Sugar Ray. That doesn't challenge your position, shared by most; but it should be mentioned.

[Willie Pep 229]

Graziano was a ham and egger nothing more.

But he had the balls to throw ten right hands in a row and led with his face. He wowed the fans and they loved him for it.

Nobody ever wanted their money back and no body walked out in the middle of one of his fights, e.g. Mayweather Jr.

While most of the great fighters were in uniform Graziano filled the gap; he pack venues and became a 'superstar,' but yes just a shooting star guaranteed to flame out quickly.

He wasn't an ATG but that's OK he was an important part of the game.

You guys are always so concerned with judging who was better than whom, I feel you miss out on the real excitement of history when you don't stop, step back and appreciate the fighter, for in his day, who he was.

You're missing his greatness; you're not going to find it in resumes, style evaluations, or H2H fantasy fights.

It happened in the arenas and we weren't there.

But try to envision the events, embrace the excitement of the fights, of the nights; the charisma of the man. Enjoy the fighter, he was great for boxing. That puts him in the hall of fame and makes him an all time great.

[Ivich]

Graziano was a ham and egger nothing more.

But he had the balls to throw ten right hands in a row and led with his face. He wowed the fans and they loved him for it.

Nobody ever wanted their money back and no body walked out in the middle of one of his fights, e.g. Mayweather Jr.

While most of the great fighters were in uniform Graziano filled the gap; he pack venues and became a 'superstar,' but yes just a shooting star guaranteed to flame out quickly.

He wasn't an ATG but that's OK he was an important part of the game.

You guys are always so concerned with judging who was better than whom, I feel you miss out on the real excitement of history when you don't stop, step back and appreciate the fighter, for in his day, who he was.

You're missing his greatness; you're not going to find it in resumes, style evaluations, or H2H fantasy fights.

It happened in the arenas and we weren't there.

But try to envision the events, embrace the excitement of the fights, of the nights; the charisma of the man. Enjoy the fighter, he was great for boxing. That puts him in the hall of fame and makes him an all time great.

Yes we know all this,he was exciting and put bums on seats,and better, more deserving fighters such as Lamotta,Burley ,and Williams didn't get their chance at Zale because he had a trilogy with him,tying up the title for 2 years. An all time great? Not for me.

[Willie Pep 229]

Yes we know all this,he was exciting and put bums on seats,and better, more deserving fighters such as Lamotta,Burley ,and Williams didn't get their chance at Zale because he had a trilogy with him,tying up the title for 2 years. An all time great? Not for me.

Ah! . . . Go write a list.

[GhostofDempsey]

Graziano was a ham and egger nothing more.

But he had the balls to throw ten right hands in a row and led with his face. He wowed the fans and they loved him for it.

Nobody ever wanted their money back and no body walked out in the middle of one of his fights, e.g. Mayweather Jr.

While most of the great fighters were in uniform Graziano filled the gap; he pack venues and became a 'superstar,' but yes just a shooting star guaranteed to flame out quickly.

He wasn't an ATG but that's OK he was an important part of the game.

You guys are always so concerned with judging who was better than whom, I feel you miss out on the real excitement of history when you don't stop, step back and appreciate the fighter, for in his day, who he was.

You're missing his greatness; you're not going to find it in resumes, style evaluations, or H2H fantasy fights.

It happened in the arenas and we weren't there.

But try to envision the events, embrace the excitement of the fights, of the nights; the charisma of the man. Enjoy the fighter, he was great for boxing. That puts him in the hall of fame and makes him an all time great.

I would say Graziano was the Arturo Gatti of the 1940s. Scrappy, exciting fighter who gave his all and never in a boring fight. Both were significant enough to make the IBHOF.