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Jake LaMotta
Statistics
Real name	Giacobbe LaMotta
Nickname(s)	Bronx Bull Raging Bull
Rated at	Middleweight
Nationality	American
Birth date	10 July 1921 (1921-07-10) (age 86)
Birth place	New York, New York
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	106
Wins	83
Wins by KO	30
Losses	19
Draws	4
No contests	0

Giacobbe La Motta (born July 10, 1921), better known as Jake LaMotta, nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" and "The Raging Bull", is a former boxer who was world middleweight champion and whose life has been as controversial outside the ring as it was inside it. He was portrayed by Robert De Niro in the biopic Raging Bull.

Contents 1 Boxing records 2 Early life 3 Boxing career 4 Post boxing 5 Fighting style 6 Raging Bull 7 Later life 8 External links

LaMotta, who compiled a record of 83 wins, 19 losses and 4 draws with 30 wins by way of knockout, was the first man to beat Sugar Ray Robinson, when he dropped Robinson in the first round and outpointed him over the course of ten rounds during the second fight of their legendary six bout rivalry. LaMotta won only one of the fights, the second, when he weighed in 11 pounds more than Robinson, where Robinson won the following four bouts at the same weight.

In 1947, he was knocked out in four rounds by Billy Fox. The fight with Fox would come back to haunt LaMotta later in life; during a hearing with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he shocked the sports world by admitting that in order to get a chance at the World Championship, he had agreed to throw his fight against Billy Fox, so as to enable the Mafia to make a big monetary hit on the betting lines. LaMotta later claimed that there was nothing unusual about throwing a fight for the Mafia in that era; his case was only unusual in that he admitted to having done so.

LaMotta was knocked down only once (by Danny Nardico) in his 106 fight career, as his only losses came by Technical Knock Out or by judges' scorecards. Thus he became renowned for his strong chin.

LaMotta, born in the New York City borough of the Bronx, began boxing at an early age when his father made him fight other neighborhood kids for the entertainment of adults. A crowd pleaser even back then, the money that spectators would throw into the ring after Jake fought—usually pennies, nickels and dimes—helped pay the rent at home. After spending time in reform school, LaMotta turned to pro boxing in 1941 at the age of 19.

LaMotta won the world title in 1949 in Detroit against Frenchman Marcel Cerdan, who was the world champion. Cerdan, called by many boxing critics the greatest champion ever from France, dislocated his arm in the first round and gave up before the start of the tenth, the official scoring being LaMotta winner by a knockout in ten 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, his Air France Lockheed Constellation crashed at the Azores, killing everyone on board. LaMotta met two challengers (Tiberio Mitri and Laurent Dauthuille) and beat them, and then he was challenged by Robinson on their rivalry's sixth fight. Held on February 14, 1951, the fight became known as boxing's version of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Robinson won by a technical knockout in the thirteenth round, when the fight was stopped with LaMotta lying on the ropes. In 1960, LaMotta shocked the sports world when he was called to testify before a U.S. Senate sub-committee that was looking at underworld influence on the boxing game. LaMotta said that he had thrown his 1947 fight with Billy Fox in exchange for a later title shot against Cerdan. While this admission affected his reputation, LaMotta still believed that it was worthwhile.

In the mid-1940s LaMotta suffered from a boxing injury and took time off to recover. He was always interested in baseball and decided to form the Jake LaMotta All-Star team. They played in Sterling Oval which was located between 165th and 164th Street between Clay and Teller Avenue in the Bronx. All of his Bronx friends came to the game. He also held professional fights at that field and his brother Joey often fought there. His wife Vikki was a very successful ticket seller because she was so young and pretty.^{[citation needed]}

After retirement, LaMotta bought a few bars and became a stage actor and stand up comedian. He also appeared in over 15 motion pictures, including The Hustler, with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. LaMotta played the bartender.

Jake LaMotta is recognized as having one the best chins in boxing. But there was much more to LaMotta than a granite chin. LaMotta was a clever boxer who executed the nuances of the sport with fine precision. While he was able to absorb punches with little problem, he was also adept at rolling with punches to minimize the damage. He liked to play possum in the ring, lulling opponents into a false sense of confidence before unleashing his own attack. He was recognised for having immense punching power, and one of the first boxers to adopt the physical 'bully' style of fighting, in that he always stayed physically 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 powerful punches. And, perhaps above all, he had a tremendous will to win. It was due to his aggressive, unrelenting style that he was soon dubbed "The Bronx Bull" by fans and journalists alike.^{[citation needed]}

Nearing 1980, Hollywood executives approached LaMotta with the idea of a movie about his life, based on LaMotta's 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story. The film, Raging Bull, was initially only a minor box office success, but eventually became a huge critical success both for director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, who gained about 60 pounds (27 kg) during the shooting of the film, to play the older, corpulent, broken-down LaMotta in the scenes of LaMotta's later life.

It has been said that in order to add pounds for the role, De Niro consumed entire pizzas, half-gallons of ice cream and gallons of beer daily until the desired weight was achieved. He lived in Paris for three months eating at the finest restaurants in order to gain the sufficient weight to portray Lamotta after retirement. De Niro received an Oscar for his portrayal.

The movie depicted a violent and problematic LaMotta who once even went as far as beating his own brother, manager Joey LaMotta, accusing him of having an affair with his (Jake's) then wife, Vikki LaMotta.

In 1998, his son Joseph LaMotta died in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off of the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

His nephew John Lamotta was a member of the Golden Gloves championship tournament.

LaMotta has been active on the speaking and autograph circuit and has published several books about his career and his wife and his fights with Robinson.

He is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.

• Professional boxing record for Jake LaMotta from Boxrec
• Jake LaMotta at the Internet Movie Database
• Raging Bull at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Marcel Cerdan

World Middleweight Champion 16 Jun 1949–14 Feb 1951

Succeeded by Sugar Ray Robinson