Giacobbe "Jake"LaMotta (July 10, 1922 – September 19, 2017) was an Italian-Americanprofessional boxer who was worldmiddleweight champion between 1949 and 1951. Nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" or "Raging Bull" for his technique of constant stalking, brawling and inside fighting, he developed a reputation for being a "bully"; he was what is often referred to today as aswarmer and aslugger.

Jake LaMotta
LaMotta in a postcard dated 1952
Born	Giacobbe LaMotta (1922-07-10)July 10, 1922 New York City, U.S.
Died	September 19, 2017(2017-09-19) (aged 95) Aventura, Florida, U.S.
Other names	The Bronx Bull The Raging Bull
Statistics
Weight(s)	Middleweight Light heavyweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1]
Reach	67 in (170 cm)[1]
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	106[2]
Wins	83
Wins by KO	30
Losses	19
Draws	4

Due to his hard style of fighting, LaMotta often took as much as he dished out in an era of great middleweights. With a thick skull and jaw muscles, LaMotta was able to absorb incredible amounts of punishment over the course of his career, and is thought to have one of the greatestchins in boxing history. LaMotta's six-fight rivalry withSugar Ray Robinson was one of the most notable in the sport. Although each fight was close and LaMotta dropped Robinson to the canvas multiple times, LaMotta won only one of the bouts. LaMotta, who lived a turbulent life in and out of the ring, was managed by his brotherJoey. He was ranked 52nd onRing Magazine's list of the "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years",^[3] and also ranked amongst its list of the 10 greatest middleweights of all time.^[4] LaMotta was inducted into theInternational Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.^[5]

LaMotta's autobiography was adapted into the 1980Martin Scorsese filmRaging Bull. It went on to be nominated foreight Academy Awards, withRobert De Niro winningBest Actor for his portrayal of LaMotta.

LaMotta was born on theLower East Side of New York City on July 10, 1922, to Italian parents, Elizabeth (Merluzzo) and Giuseppe "Joseph" LaMotta.^[6][7][8] Many sources had reported his year of birth as 1921,^[9] but his daughter Christi claimed it was in fact 1922.^[9] His mother was born in the United States to Italian immigrants, while his father was an immigrant fromMessina, Sicily, who came with family including Jake's older brother Joseph. The family lived briefly in Philadelphia before returning to New York City and settling in theBronx.^[6]

Jake's father forced the boy to fight other boys in order to entertain neighborhood adults, who threw pocket change into the ring. LaMotta's father collected the money and used it to help pay the rent.^[10] One of LaMotta's cousins on his father's side wasRichard LaMotta, who became an entrepreneur and creator of theChipwich ice cream treat.^[11]

LaMotta learned to box while in areformatory in upstate New York, where he'd been sent for attempted robbery.^[6] Afterward he fought undefeated in amateur bouts, turning professional at age 19 in 1941. DuringWorld War II, he was rejected for military service due to a childhoodmastoid operation on one of his ears which affected his hearing.^[6][12]

As amiddleweight in his first fifteen bouts, LaMotta went 14–0–1 (3 KOs) before losing a highly controversial split decision toJimmy Reeves in Reeves' hometown ofCleveland, Ohio. Chaos erupted after the decision was announced. Fights broke out around the ring and the crowd continued to boo for 20 minutes. The arena's organist tried (but failed) to calm down the crowd by playing the "Star Spangled Banner".

One month later, LaMotta and Reeves fought again in the same arena. LaMotta lost a much less controversial decision. A third match between the two took place on March 19, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan. The first five rounds were close, though Reeves was struggling in the fourth. In the sixth round, LaMotta floored Reeves, who was only down for a second. Once the fight resumed, LaMotta landed a left on Reeves' chin, sending him down face-first. Reeves was blinking his eyes and shaking his head as the referee counted him out.

LaMotta foughtSugar Ray Robinson in Robinson's middleweight debut atMadison Square Garden, New York City, October 2, 1942.^[13] LaMotta knocked Robinson down in the first round of the fight. Robinson got up and took control over much of the fight, winning via a unanimous 10-round decision.^[13]

A 10-round rematch took place February 5, 1943, atOlympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.^[13] In the eighth round, LaMotta landed a right to Robinson's head and a left to his body, sending him through the ropes. Robinson was saved by the bell at the count of nine. LaMotta, who was already leading on the scorecards before knocking Robinson out of the ring, pummeled andoutpointed him for the rest of the fight. Robinson had trouble keeping LaMotta at bay.^[14] LaMotta won via unanimous decision, giving Robinson the first defeat of his career.

The victory was short-lived, as the two met on February 26, 1943, in what was another 10-round fight, once again at Olympia Stadium in Robinson's former home of Detroit.^[13] Robinson was knocked down for a nine-count in Round 7. Robinson later stated, "He really hurt me with a left in the seventh round. I was a little dazed and decided to stay on the deck." Robinson won the close fight by unanimous decision, using a dazzling left jab and jarring uppercuts.^[15] LaMotta said the fight was given to Robinson because he would be inducted into the army the next day.^[16]

A fourth fight, the duo's final 10 rounder, took place nearly two years after the third, on February 23, 1945, at Madison Square Garden, New York.^[17] Robinson won again by a unanimous decision.

LaMotta and Robinson had their fifth bout atComiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois on September 26, 1945. Robinson won by a very controversial split decision, contested over 12 rounds.^[18] The decision was severely booed by the 14,755 people in attendance. LaMotta later said in his autobiography that the decision was widely criticized by several newspapers and boxing publishers. Robinson said afterward, "This was the toughest fight I've ever had with LaMotta."^[19]

On November 14, 1947, LaMotta was knocked out in the fourth round byBilly Fox. Suspecting the fight wasfixed, theNew York State Athletic Commission withheld purses for the fight and suspended LaMotta. The fight with Fox would come back to haunt him later in life, during a case with theFederal Bureau of Investigation.

In his testimony and in his later book, LaMotta admitted to throwing the fight to gain favor with theMafia. All involved agreed the fix was obvious and their staging inept.

As LaMotta wrote,

The first round, a couple of belts to his head, and I see a glassy look coming over his eyes. Jesus Christ, a couple of jabs and he's going to fall down? I began to panic a little. I was supposed to be throwing a fight to this guy, and it looked like I was going to end up holding him on his feet... By [the fourth round], if there was anybody in the Garden who didn't know what was happening, he must have been dead drunk.^[20]

The thrown fight and a payment of $20,000 to the Mafia got LaMotta his title bout against World Middleweight ChampionMarcel Cerdan.^[21]

LaMotta won the World Middleweight title on June 16, 1949, in Detroit, Michigan, defeatingFrenchmanMarcel Cerdan.^[22] LaMotta won the first round (in which he knocked Cerdan down), Cerdan the second, and the third was even. At that point it became clear something was wrong. Cerdan dislocated his arm in the first round, apparently damaged in the knockdown, and gave up before the start of the 10th round. LaMotta damaged his left hand in the fifth round, but still landed 104 punches in the ninth round, whereas Cerdan hardly threw a punch.^[23] The official score had LaMotta as winner by a knockout in 10 rounds because the bell had already rung to begin that round when Cerdan announced he was quitting. A rematch was arranged, but while Cerdan was flying back to the United States to fight the rematch, hisAir France Lockheed Constellation crashed in theAzores, killing everyone on board.^[24]

LaMotta made his first title defense againstTiberio 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, againstLaurent 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.^[25] This fight was namedFight of the Year for 1950 byThe Ring magazine.

The sixth and final fight between LaMotta and Robinson took place atChicago Stadium. This fight was scheduled for 15 rounds and was for the middleweight title.^[13] Held on February 14, 1951, Saint Valentine's Day, the fight became known as boxing's version of theSaint Valentine's Day Massacre. In the last few rounds, LaMotta began to take a horrible beating and was soon unable to defend himself from Robinson's powerful blows. But LaMotta refused to go down. Robinson won by atechnical knockout in the 13th round, when the fight was stopped.^[26]

LaMotta moved up tolight heavyweight after losing his world middleweight title. He had poor results at first. He lost his debut againstBob Murphy, lost a split decision to Norman Hayes, and drew with Gene Hairston in his first three bouts. In his next three fights, LaMotta had rematches with Hayes, Hairston, and Murphy, and defeated all of them by unanimous decisions.

On December 31, 1952, LaMotta had his next fight againstDanny Nardico. He knocked LaMotta down for the only time in his career (not counting his thrown 1947 fight) by a right hand in the seventh round. LaMotta got up and was beaten against a corner by Nardico until the bell rang. LaMotta's corner stopped the bout before the eighth round began.^[27]

Following that fight, LaMotta took time off; when he returned, in early 1954,^[28] he knocked out his first two opponents, Johnny Pretzie (TKO 4) and Al McCoy (KO 1), but a controversial split decision loss to Billy Kilgore on April 14, 1954, convinced him to retire.^[29]

After retiring from the ring, LaMotta owned and managed a bar at 1120 Collins Ave in Miami Beach. He also became a stage actor and comedian. In 1958 he was arrested and charged with introducing men to an underage girl at a club he owned in Miami. He was convicted and served six months on achain gang, although he maintained his innocence.^{[citation needed]}

In 1960 LaMotta was called to testify before aU.S. Senatesub-committee that was looking into underworld influence on boxing. He testified that he had thrown his bout with Billy Fox so that the mob would arrange a title bout for him.^[20]

LaMotta appeared in more than 15 films, includingThe Hustler (1961) withPaul Newman andJackie Gleason, in which he had a role as a bartender.^[30] He appeared in several episodes of theNBC police comedyCar 54 Where Are You? (1961–63). A lifelongbaseball fan, he organized the Jake LaMotta All-Star Team inthe Bronx. The LaMotta team played in Sterling Oval which was located between 165th and 164th Streets between Clay and Teller Avenue.^{[citation needed]}

In 1965, LaMotta appeared as "Big Jule" in theNew York City Center production ofGuys and Dolls for 15 performances alongsideAlan King andJerry Orbach.^[31]

In his old age, LaMotta lived mostly in a northern suburb of Miami, FL, alternating to Bisbee, AZ during the rainy Florida summer season,^[32] where he knew comedian Doug Stanhope.^[33]

LaMotta is recognized as having had one of the bestchins in boxing. He rolled with punches, minimizing their force and damage when they landed, but he was also able to absorb many blows.^[10] In the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, his sixth bout with Robinson, LaMotta suffered numerous severe blows to the head. Commentators could be heard saying "No man can take this kind of punishment!" But LaMotta did not go down. The fight was stopped by the referee in the 13th round, declaring it a TKO victory for Robinson.

LaMotta was one of the first boxers to adopt the "bully" style of fighting, in that he always stayed close and in punching range of his opponent, by stalking him around the ring, and sacrificed taking punches himself in order to land his own shots. Due to his aggressive, unrelenting style he was known as "The Bronx Bull".^[34] He boasted "No son-of-a-bitch ever knocked me off my feet", but that claim was ended in December 1952 at the hands of Danny Nardico when Nardico caught him with a hard right in the seventh round. LaMotta fell into the ropes and went down. After regaining his footing, he was unable to come out for the next round.^[35][36]

Raging Bull: My Story is a 1970 second edition of LaMotta's memoir. The autobiographical details include his life as a young teenage criminal; his reformation in prison; his extensive career as an amateur and professional boxer; his struggles with organized crime who kept a boxing title out of reach; and his jealous obsession with his wife, Vikki. The book details his life, from childhood until the end of his fame.

The first edition is:

• La Motta, Jake with Carter, Joseph and Savage, Peter (1970).Raging Bull: My Story. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall [1970].ISBN 0-13-752527-3.

Hollywood executives approached LaMotta with the idea of a movie about his life, based on his 1970 memoirRaging Bull: My Story. The film,Raging Bull, released in 1980, was abox-office bomb, but eventually received overwhelming critical acclaim for both directorMartin Scorsese and actorRobert De Niro, who gained about 60 pounds during the shooting of the film to play the older LaMotta in later scenes.

To accurately portray the younger LaMotta, De Niro trained with LaMotta until LaMotta felt he was ready to box professionally. De Niro lived in Paris for three months, eating at the finest restaurants in order to gain sufficient weight to portray LaMotta after retirement.^[20] De Niro won theAcademy Award for Best Actor for his performance.

LaMotta had a troubled personal life, including an early spell in areformatory, and was married seven times. He admitted to having raped a woman, having beaten his wives and coming close to beating a man to death during a robbery.^[37]

In February 1998, LaMotta's elder son, Jake LaMotta Jr., died of liver cancer.^[10] In September 1998, his younger son, Joseph LaMotta, died in the crash ofSwissair Flight 111.^[10][38]

His nephew, John LaMotta, fought in theheavyweight-novice class of the 2001Golden Gloves championship tournament.^[39] John later became an actor, and one of his roles was as "Duke", who ran the bar of that name featured in the television comedy seriesFrasier. Another nephew,William Lustig, is a well-known director and producer of horror films and the president ofBlue Underground, Inc.^[40]

LaMotta had four daughters, including Christi by his second wifeVikki LaMotta and Stephanie by his fourth wife Dimitria. He married his seventh wife, his longtime fiancée Denise Baker, on January 4, 2013.^[41] LaMotta remained active on the speaking and autograph circuit, and published several books about his career, his life, and his fights with Robinson.

LaMotta appeared in a 50-minute New York City stage production,Lady and the Champ, in July 2012. The production focused on LaMotta's boxing career, and was criticized byThe New York Times as poorly executed and a "bizarre debacle".^[42]

LaMotta is the subject of a documentary directed and produced by Greg Olliver. The film features an appearance byMike Tyson among other notable athletes, actors and Jake's family and friends. Also in production was a sequel toRaging Bull, althoughMGM filed suit to halt the project, saying that LaMotta did not have the right to make a sequel. The lawsuit was settled on July 31, 2012, when LaMotta agreed to change the title of the film toThe Bronx Bull.^[43]

LaMotta: The Bronx Bull stars actorWilliam Forsythe as LaMotta, whilePaul Sorvino plays his father. It also featuresJoe Mantegna,Tom Sizemore,Penelope Ann Miller,Natasha Henstridge,Joey Diaz andRay Wise.^[44]

LaMotta died on September 19, 2017, from complications of pneumonia in a nursing home in Florida, at the age of 95.^[45][6][9]

• NYSACmiddleweight champion (160 lbs)
• NBA (WBA) middleweight champion (160 lbs)

• The Ring middleweight champion (160 lbs)

• Undisputed middleweight champion

• List of middleweight boxing champions
• Bronx Walk of Fame

• Official website
• Boxing record for Jake LaMotta fromBoxRec(registration required)
• Whitney Martin (AP), "Lamotta Near End Of Trail",Lewiston Daily Sun, January 3, 1953
• Jake LaMotta atIMDb
• Raging Bull atIMDb