lamotta made his first title defense against tiberio mitri on july 7, 1950, at madison square garden, new york. lamotta retained his title via unanimous decision. lamotta's next defense came on september 13, 1950, against laurent dauthuille. dauthuille had previously beaten lamotta by decision before lamotta became world champion. by the fifteenth round, dauthuille was ahead on all scorecards (72–68, 74–66, 71–69) and seemed to be about to repeat a victory against lamotta. lamotta hit dauthuille with a barrage of punches that sent him down against the ropes toward the end of the round. dauthuille was counted out with 13 seconds left in the fight. this fight was named fight of the year for 1950 by "the ring" magazine.