Roughly six months later, the rematch was set - this time at the Chicago Stadium. In the end, Basilio was declared the winner and new champion via split decision in a Fight of the Year. The host for the first Robinson-Basilio fight was the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, where boxing fans were treated to a 15-round slugfest, with each fighter staying in the pocket and swinging wildly in an attempt to finish the other. After losing to Saxton via unanimous decision, Basilio delivered back-to-back TKOs and then added another TKO of Harold Jones to improve his record to 51–12–7 entering the fight with Robinson in September 1957. Basilio, who was nearing the end of his career, was coming off a trilogy against Johnny Saxton. Robinson entered his bout against Carmen Basilio, touting a record of 140–5–2 at the time. and that this one was going to be even more grueling. Little did Robinson know at the time that he was about to engage in another back-to-back war. Robinson had just regained The Ring and lineal middleweight titles in a rematch with Gene Fullmer and he did it emphatically with a fifth-round KO. Here, DAZN News looks back on the bookend of that rivalry, as Robinson took back his middleweight crown for a record fifth time on March 25, 1958. Part of Robinson's incredible pro journey of almost 200 fights was the unbelievable fireworks displayed in a pair of fights against Carmen Basilio. His body of work during that stronghold over the division was more than enough to punch his ticket into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Sugar Ray Robinson knocked out Jake LaMotta in February 1951 to kick off one of the most dominating reigns as middleweight champion that the boxing world had ever seen.
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