Sports Articles: Boxing Legends Part 6: Jake LaMota

Giacobbe 'Jake' LaMotta 'The Bronx Bull' or 'Raging Bull'

On 10 July 1922 (though some sources maintain it was 1921) Jake LaMotta was born in the Lower East Side of Manhatten, New York City to parents Elizabeth (nee Merluzzo) and Giuseppe 'Joseph' LaMotta. His mother was the daughter of Italian immigrants, while his father had arrived in the USA from Messina, Sicily. They spent a short time after his birth in Philadelphia but quickly returned to NYC and settled in the Bronx. From a young age Jake had anger issues and showed violent tendencies: "When I was 8 I was already getting mad at people. I would clock them for talking to each other because I thought they might be talking about me. Sometimes I would get so crazy at nothing that I didn't give a damn what happened, whether I killed them or they killed me. There could have been an explosion across the street but I wouldn't have heard it."

His father was an abusive man, who would beat Jake, his siblings and their mother, leaving Jake with a mortal fear of his father all his life. The family were extremely poor and Joseph would force Jake to fight other boys from the neighbourhood as entertainment for the adults in the area, who would throw pocket change into the ring if the fight was good enough. Joseph would collect the money and use it to help pay the rent. It is probably little wonder with this upbringing that Jake quickly gained a reputation for being a violent thug and by the age of 17 was well known in his area for it.

One moment in the Autumn of 1938 did affect him. Jake had planned to mug local bookmaker Harry Gordon, who was known to always have money in his pocket after doing the rounds of the neighbourhood and always took the same route home. LaMotta waited for him in a dark corner with a length of lead piping wrapped in a newspaper, after Gordon went past LaMotta snuck up behind Gordon and smashed him round the head with the piping. Gordon staggered, but stayed on his feet. The red mist descended on LaMotta and he lost control, hitting Gordon over and over again on the back of the head until Gordon crashed to the ground unconscious. LaMotta took Gordon's wallet and then slipped off into the night. The next day he read the local newspaper report: "Harry Gordon, 45, with a record of bookmaking arrests, was found beaten to death in an alley off Brook Avenue in the Bronx at 4 o'clock this morning."

"Everybody has a temper, but mine was set on a hair trigger." - LaMotta.

LaMotta said later: "For more than ten years I thought I had killed the fella. It kind of messed me up a bit. I felt that I had done something I hadn't paid for. I was in stir as a youngster at Coxsackie [a notorious reform school in New York] but for something else [the attempted burglary of a jewellery store]. I guess it felt like a safe place to be whilst the cops were looking for the murderer. It was only in 1949 that I found out what really happened. I was celebrating after beating Marcel Cerdan for the championship and this man with scars on his forehead comes over. It was Harry. 'You remember me?' he says. It was like a ghost had turned up. Turns out Harry was so bashed up when he got to the hospital that the newspaperman thought he was a goner. We didn't know any better because he moved out of town as soon as he was released from hospital. He'd decided the Bronx was too rough." LaMotta never told him that he was the one who attacked him and first told the story in his autobiography after Gordon had passed away.

It was while in the reformatory school, which also numbers another future boxing legend, Rocky Graziano, amongst its inmates, that Jake learnt to box. After his release, he stuck to boxing and remained undefeated as an amateur, winning a diamond belt championship. He then turned professional in 1941, still aged just 19, his brother Joey acted as his agent. It was Joey that tried to convince Jake to meet with the Mafia, as they could help his career, but Jake was adamant he wanted nothing to do with them. Another brother, Al, was usually working his corner at his fights.

LaMotta was one of the first to use what would become known as the 'bully' style, where he would stalk opponents, cutting the ring and trying to just overwhelm them and give them no time to rest. To that end, he was happy to take punches, so long as it meant he could get his own off too. His success was helped by his extremely thick skull and iron jaw - he was only ever knocked down once in his entire career despite being involved in numerous wars. Associated Press' sportswriter Whitney Martin wrote of Jake that he stalked forward in the ring, with "blows bouncing off him like ball bearings off a battleship". That style stood him in good stead in his first professional fight on 3rd March 1941, when LaMotta beat Charley Mackley on points at St Nicholas Arena in New York. Just 11 days later, Jake was back in action beating Tony Gillo on points. A couple of weeks later, on the 1st April, he fought a third time, beating Johnny Morris by TKO and it was only a week later that he got another TKO victory, this time against Joe Fredericks.

"Subconsciously - I didn't know it then, I realise it today when I know a little more about the mind and the brain - I fought like I didn't deserve to live." - LaMotta.

Just a week later, he was back in action on 15th April beating Stanley Goicz on points, and another week on it Lorne McCarthy that lost to him on points. Even that seemed a bit too long between bouts for LaMotta and his next fight was on 26th April 1941, just 4 days after beating McCarthy, as he beat Monroe Crewe, also on points. He fought regularly over the next few months, beating Johnny Cihlar, Johnny Morris (again) and Lorenzo Strickland (twice in a row) on points, before he beat Johnny Morris for a third time, this time by KO. Joe Baynes was beaten on points before, on 5th August 1941, he had his first failure to win with a draw against Joe Shikula. Six days later he beat Cliff Koerkle on points to give him a record of 14-0-1 as a middleweight.

His next fight was in September, when he travelled to Cleveland, Ohio to fight hometown fighter Jimmy Reeves in what was an extremely controversial fight. Reeves was awarded a split decision victory and absolute chaos erupted in the venue as fights broke out all around the ring. The crowd booed for a full 20 minutes straight. The arena's organist attempted to calm the crowd by playing Star Spangled Banner, but it failed to have any effect. According to the report in the Associated Press, Reeves had spent the first 7 rounds knocking LaMotta around, but then the fight had changed dramatically for the final three rounds as Reeves' ran out of stamina. In the 9th Reeves went through the ropes for a 9 count. In the 10th and final round, Reeves was down 4 times, twice just from sheer exhaustion. Reeves was on the floor when the final bell sounded to rescue him. Afterwards the referee said: "The way I looked at it, Reeves had piled up such a big margin he seemed entitled to finish if he could. He was more tired than hurt."

It was around this time that his violent nature once again emerged and, after a few drinks he punched his first wife so hard that he thought he had killed her. His first thought after coming out of a drunken stupor was not that of remorse, all he was bothered about was how it might affect his boxing career: "Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. A minimum of three years." His brother Joey wanted to dispose of the body by throwing her in the river but then they realised that she was alive and simply unconscious.

"You can't go into the ring and be a nice guy." - LaMotta.

Back inside the ring, he was back to winning ways with a points win over Lorenzo Strickland for the third time. His next fight was a rematch against Reeves, in the same arena in Cleveland, but this time Reeves won in a much less controversial fight. It went a similar way, Reeves outboxing him and piling up a huge points lead, but this time he had paced himself better and it was not until the 9th that Reeves tired enough to be drawn into a slugging match. Jake was just too far behind by that point and lost a unanimous decision. He followed that defeat up with a win over Jimmy Casa on points, before another loss at the hands of Nate Bolden by majority decision. At this point, America entered World War 2, following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour and LaMotta attempted to sign up for military service but was rejected due to a childhood mastoid operation on one of his ears, which had damaged his hearing.

Jake started 1942 with two wins over Frankie Jamison on points and then beat Lorenzo Strickland for a fifth time on points. At the beginning of April, LaMotta knocked out Lou Schwartz and, later in the month beat Buddy O'Dell on points. He drew with Jose Basora in May and then got a points win against Vic Dellicurti on the 2nd June before a rematch with Basora on the 16th saw him lose on points. LaMotta bounced back by beating Lorenzo Strickland on points again on 28 July. His sixth win over Strickland. A month later he fought in what was described as a sensational fight by BoxRec. Jake stepped in the ring against a much smaller opponent in the shape of Jimmy Edgar, taking the fight to him and keeping the pace punishing. Despite that, Edgar put up a great showing and survived to lose to LaMotta on points. A couple of weeks later he was once again involved in a rematch, this time it was Vic Dellicurti that he beat on points again.

On the 2nd October 1942, LaMotta fought the man who was to, probably, define his career in boxing, the great Sugar Ray Robinson. This was Robinson's first fight at middleweight and LaMotta managed to knock him down in the first round, but Sugar Ray got up and took control of the fight and went on to win by a unanimous decision over 10 rounds. After the fight, Robinson said of Jake that, "I never fought a fighter as strong as he is." A TKO win over Bill McDowell was next up for Jake, followed by wins over Henry Chmielewski, a rematch win over Jimmy Edgar and Jackie Wilson. In his third fight of 1943, on 22nd January, LaMotta took on Charley Hates. Jake put Hayes down in the second for an 8 count, but he managed to survive until the 6th, when a left to the body left him on the canvas to be counted out with just 3 seconds left in the bout. Hayes' manager, Lee Jones, claimed the body shot was a low blow, but an examination failed to turn up any evidence of it, so LaMotta was awarded a TKO victory.

Yet another rematch beckoned for Jake next, as he faced Sugar Ray again over 10 rounds. LaMotta handed Robinson the first defeat of his career, knocking Robinson through the ropes in the 8th round. Robinson was saved by the bell with the count at 9 and then took a battering over the final two rounds. LaMotta had already been ahead on the score cards going into the 8th and he went on to win by unanimous decision, ending Robinson's winning streak at 40 fights. Three weeks later, Jake faced Robinson for the third time in another 10-round fight. This time, despite Robinson being knocked down in the 7th with a left, Robinson was given a unanimous decision in a close fight. LaMotta claimed that the win was given to Sugar Ray as he was going to be inducted into the military the next day.

It was another rematch next, this time he fought Jimmy Reeves for a third time, once again in Detroit. Reeves had begun to look like he was struggling in the 4th but the fight was close going into the 6th. In the 6th, LaMotta knocked Reeves down but he got straight back up. When the fight restarted, a left landed on Reeves' chin and sent him crashing to the canvas face-first. Reeves was lying there, blinking his eyes and shaking his head as the referee counted him out. Next up were wins over Ossie Harris and Tony Ferrara before he beat Fritzie Zivic by split decision and then losing the rematch the same way. LaMotta was then back in the ring with Jose Basora, winning by unanimous decision. For once, his next fight was not a rematch and he beat Johnny Walker by TKO in Philadelphia.

Next up was back to business as usual, with a third fight against Fritzie Zivic, which was won by split decision. A fourth fight against Zivic was next up for LaMotta, which was described by BoxRec as an exciting fight with lots of action, despite no knockdowns and Zivic breaking a bone in his hand in the first round. Jake won by unanimous decision. On 28 January 1944, two weeks after his fourth fight with Zivic, LaMotta beat Ossie Harris by split decision, in a decision that was booed "lustily" by the majority of fans in the venue, according to the Detroit Free Press. In February he, of course, had a rematch with Harris, which he also won by split decision. Wins against Coley Welch and Lou Woods were next, before Lloyd Marshall handed Jake a defeat. A unanimous decision win over George Kochan was, of course, preceding a rematch with Kochan, which LaMotta also won, this time by TKO.

Inside the ring it was very much business as usual, with February 1945 bringing a fourth fight against Sugar Ray Robinson, which Sugar Ray won by unanimous decision. He then knocked out Lou Schwartz before taking on George Costner in Chicago. Costner came out firing and took the fight to LaMotta. He would have won the first round but for a flash knockdown. In the second, LaMotta took charge, leading to Costner changing his tactics for the third round and trying to evade Jake. In the 4th Costner tired, despite that LaMotta took it easier in the 5th, luring Costner into thinking he was also tiring, only for LaMotta to unload viciously in the 6th. Costner took heavy punishment and went down for a 9-count midway through the round. His left eye was shut and he tried to quit but Jake put him down again before the ref could stop him and Costner was counted out.

After that Jake beat Vic Dellicurti (again), Bert Lytell, Tommy Bell, Jose Basora (again) and George Kochan (again) before stepping into the ring for a fifth fight against Sugar Ray Robinson, this time a 12-rounder. At the end, an extremely controversial split decision win was awarded to Robinson, which was booed by the 14,755 in the crowd. Wins against Coolidge Miller, Walter Woods, Charley Parham and Tommy Bell (again), followed that controversy. It was into 1946 now, the year of his marriage to second wife Beverley Thailer, better known as Vikki. She was just 16 years old. The marriage was marred by his insane bouts of jealousy, with Jake constantly convinced she was having affairs with other men, from Mafia members (who befriended her to try and get close to him) and even his own brother Joey. His jealousy got so bad that he viciously beat Joey and caused a rift between the two which lasted years.

Marriage did not interrupt his career and he continued a winning streak with victories over Marcus Lockman and Joe Reddick, before another rematch, this time with Jimmy Edgar, interrupted the streak with a draw. LaMotta quickly returned to winning ways and beat Holman Williams, Bob Satterfield, O'Neill Bell, Anton Raadik, Tommy Bell (again) and Tony Janiro before a split decision defeat at the hands of Cecil Hudson in September 1947. That was followed by the most controversial fight of his career, when he faced Billy Fox on 14th November 1947. Billy 'Blackjack' Fox was a fighter backed by well-known gangster Frank 'Blinky' Palermo and came into the fight on the back of 7 straight wins by way of KO, after suffering his only defeat in a title fight against world light heavyweight champion Gus Lesnevich. Fox went into the fight as slight favourite at 6-to-5, but the odds surged to 3-1 just a few hours before the fight and the stench of corruption led to the chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, Eddie Egan, to twice visit each boxer's dressing room to warn them against any kind of shenanigans.

The warnings were wasted on the pair of fighters, despite LaMotta having been very clear about avoiding Mafia influence on his career prior to this fight. He had got tired of being shut out of the title picture, feeling that he was the uncrowned world middleweight champion, and had been for the last 5 years, but that it would not matter who he beat, he would always get passed over for a title shot in favour of a mob controlled fighter. LaMotta later a Senate hearing on Mafia corruption that he was initially offered $100,000 to throw the fight but had turned it down. He had then suffered a spleen injury in training, which meant he was almost certain to lose. Rather than pulling out, the injury was kept secret and he got in touch with the mob to offer to lose in return for a title shot. He ended up agreeing to pay the Mafia $20,000, as well as agreeing a 3-year exclusive services contract and throwing the fight, to get his title shot against reigning world middleweight champion, Marcel Cerdan.

"I waited all those years for a title shot, and when I finally got it, I had to pay $20,000 for the opportunity. My purse was only $18,000. So to make money, I had to bet $10,000 on myself at 8-5. That was how it was in those days." - LaMotta.

The problem was that the fix was so farcical and obvious that no one was fooled. LaMotta lost by TKO in the 4th round, but his opponent was not good enough to even make it close to believable: "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..." LaMotta wrote in his first autobiography. "By [the fourth round], if there was anybody in the Garden who didn't know what was happening, he must have been dead drunk." Red Smith later wrote of the fight: "Exposing himself almost as flagrantly as Lady Godiva, Jake refused to go down but threshed and floundered on the ropes, apparently helpless against Fox's blows, until the referee stopped them in the fourth round."

Both fighters had their purses withheld by the New York State Athletic Commission, who were clearly not dead drunk while watching the fight. The FBI investigated and LaMotta was later called to testify to a Senate committee on corruption in boxing in 1960. LaMotta was suspended, but not for fixing the fight. Instead, after telling the NYSAC that he had a ruptured spleen, he was suspended until June 1948 (6 months) and fined $1,000 for concealing an injury. But he now had his route to a title shot open, at last. After his suspension, Jake beat Ken Stribling, Burl Charity, Johnny Colan and Vern Lester, before a controversial unanimous decision win over Tommy Yarosc. According to The Ring, in their February 1949 edition: "Apparently influenced more by his threatening gestures and sporadic rallies than by the steady point-collecting jabs, hooks, uppercuts and straight rights of his opponent, the officials voted a unanimous decision to Jake LaMotta..over Tommy Yarosz."

That fight was followed by a defeat by unanimous decision at the hands of Laurent Dauthuille in Montreal. Another controversial win, this time against Robert Villemain at Madison Square Garden by split decision, was booed by the crowd. The NYSAC were concerned enough to look at the result, but decided to accept the result after a meeting and the result stood. LaMotta than beat O'Neill Bell (again) and Joey DeJohn, knocking DeJohn down three times in the 8th round to force an automatic stoppage, ahead of his first world title fight against French boxer Marcel Cerdan, who had a record of 111-3, 65 wins by way of knockout. On 16th June 1949, LaMotta got his world title shot, with Cerdan putting his National Boxing Association World Middleweight belt on the line in Detroit.

The fight started well for Jake and he won the first round, but Cerdan had picked up an injury after LaMotta had flung him to the canvas while trying to free himself from a clinch. Cerdan had landed heavily on his left shoulder and Dr Vincent Nardiello diagnosed a torn supraspinatus, the muscle that lifts the arm, but with a possibility of a ligament tear. Cerdan chose to fight on, despite his left arm being useless. At times he was even able to hold his own with just a right arm. In the 5th, Jake damaged his own hand but continued to apply pressure. As Cerdan faded in the 9th, barely able to even throw a punch, LaMotta was able to land 104 punches in that round alone. Just after the bell sounded to start the 10th, Cerdan quit, giving LaMotta a win by KO. A rematch was immediately arranged, but Cerdan was killed in a flight later in 1949 and was never able to try and avenge the defeat.

Even a world title belt did not lessen LaMotta's jealousy and volatility. His paranoia was causing problems with his family and friends. He heard a malicious rumour that his best friend Pete had been spending a lot of time with his wife Vikki and he drove home in a blind rage, beating Vikki in their living room before driving round to Pete's workplace and beating him to a pulp. It took more than ten years before the pair would speak to each other again.

His first boxing match after becoming world champion was not a title fight, which was lucky for Jake as was beaten by unanimous decision by Robert Villemain. His next three were also not title fights, all of which he won, beating Dick Wagner, Chuck Hunter and Joe Taylor. The most exciting of the fights was, according to accounts from the time, the one against Wagner, which saw Wagner go all in to try and knock LaMotta out in the 4th round, gassing himself out in the process and leading to him getting a bad beating for the rest of the fight, though he continued to fight back gamely. The first title defence was on 12 July 1950, when LaMotta beat Tiberio Mitri by unanimous decision.

His second defence was a much more difficult prospect, a rematch (of course) against a fighter who had previously beaten him - Laurent Dauthuille. In a fight that was chosen as 'Fight of the Year' for 1950 by The Ring magazine, LaMotta was a long way behind on all the score cards going into the 15th and final round, with Dauthuille just needing to play it safe for the final round to beat LaMotta again and become world champion. Jake decided to play possum and acted like he was exhausted, his body hunched over and his arms hung limply by his sides as he got up to start the round. Dauthuille saw a chance to knock him out and moved in, but LaMotta sprang into action and maneuvred Dauthuille onto the ropes while unleashing a series of quick hooks. Dauthuille quickly realised he had been fooled and tried to get back to the centre of the ring, but LaMotta cut him off and began to unleash all he had on the challenger. Dauthuille had no answer and LaMotta was throwing everything into it, knowing he had to get a knock out to hold onto his belt. A solid hook left Dauthuille draped over the bottom rope and he struggled to try and get back to his feet, knowing the title was his if he got back up. He got up just a split-second after the referee counted him out, with just 13 seconds left in the fight.

The next fight for LaMotta was a 6th and final match up with the great Sugar Ray Robinson, the third defence of his title over 15 rounds. LaMotta was struggling to make the weight, and he needed to lose almost 5 pounds (2.27kg) in just 12 hours to make the 160-pound limit. Jake told Curt Gowdy later: "I went to the steam baths, I kept going in and out of the steam baths, but I finally made it." LaMotta had also been psyched out by Robinson's mind games, he was horrified to see Robinson put some salt and pepper into a tall glass of cold bull's blood and drink it pre-fight, needing a couple of swigs of brandy to bolster his courage before climbing into the ring. Robinson later told Gowdy that, "We figured he had trouble making weight.....We wanted him to expend himself as much as he could because we felt he had trouble making the weight and the latter part of the fight I would be able to be more effective." Robinson's corner turned out to be correct and LaMotta exhausted himself in the 11th round trying to finish the fight after getting Robinson backed onto the ropes. After that, Jake took a fearful beating until the 13th, when the referee stepped in because he was unable to defend himself.

"I fought Sugar Ray so often, I almost got diabetes." - LaMotta.

Robinson said later in his 1970 autobiography, Sugar Ray: "I was the middleweight champion, but I had to share my joy with respect for Jake. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He was on the stool in his corner, his leopard-skin robe thrown over him. His handlers were all around him, but he was snarling at them and waving them away. The doctor was checking him, but Jake wanted no part of him. On his way out of the ring, he ignored the hands reaching up to help him down the steps. In his dressing room, I was told later, he had to gasp for breath as he spoke to the sportswriters.
'That's all, that's all,' the doctor ordered. 'Get a tank of oxygen in here.'
The doctor gave him oxygen for half an hour. He wasn't able to leave the stadium until nearly two hours after the fight. But despite all that, it never occurred to him that the doctor had made the proper decision in signaling the referee to stop the fight." LaMotta was quoted a few weeks later saying: "Robinson never hurt me, I almost knocked Robinson out in the 11th."

The fight led to a moment later to be made famous in film by Robert De Niro, when LaMotta told Robinson in the aftermath of the fight: "You never put me down Ray. You never put me down."

The trouble that Jake had making the weight saw him decide to move up to light heavyweight after losing his middleweight belt. It was not an immediate success though and he lost his first fight at the weight to Bob Murphy, when he was unable to come out for the 8th round. Then he lost to Norman Hayes, before a draw with Gene Hairston. He then beat Norman Hayes in a rematch, before beating both Hairston and Murphy as well in rematches. Next up was a title eliminator against Danny Nardico on 31st December 1952. It was to be the first sports show to be telecast from Florida and millions watched live, with the winner to be given a title shot against reigning champion Archie Moore in February 1953. LaMotta was ranked number 9 in the world at the time, Nardico was ranked number 5, despite having lost his previous fight. Unusually for Jake, he had not fought for 6 months and had put on some extra pounds, weighing in at his heaviest weight of 173 pounds, to face Nardico, who was 177. LaMotta seemed to be slowed by the extra weight and was sluggish, allowing Nardico to take control and out slug him. Those millions watching were able to witness a first, as Nardico became the first man to legitimately knock Jake LaMotta down, when a right hand in the 7th sent him to the canvas. LaMotta managed to get up, but he was hanging on to the top rope to stay up until staggering back to his corner after the bell. His corner stopped the bout before the 8th round began. Nardico never got his title shot and this fight was the highlight of his career as he lost his next fight and never got to fight for a world title.

After the fight, Jake took some time off boxing, admitting to The Miami News that he "should have had a few warm-up fights before this one. I was in condition all right, but not fighting condition." When asked about his first knockdown, he told them: "You don't feel anything, it just happens. My head was spinning, but I knew what was going on. A funny experience."

He was to fight just three more times, beating Johnny Pretzie and Al McCoy, before a controversial split decision defeat to Billy Kilgore convinced him to retire from fighting in 1964. He had taken part in 106 professional bouts, 869 rounds and finished with a 36% KO rate. It was in retirement that he found the most fame though initially he struggled to adapt to life outside the ring, owning and managing a bar at 1120 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. In 1957, he was arrested on two counts of prostition for allowing a 14-year-old girl to work at his bar and introducing men to her. He was also stopped twice for speeding, one of the times ending with the police officer forced to pull his gun after LaMotta grabbed him and raised his fist to punch him, according to newspaper reports from the time. There was another, separate incident involving "a lissome 18-year-old blonde" who hurt her elbow after being "catapulted" from LaMotta's car early one morning.

"The three toughest fighters I fought were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sugar Ray Robinson." - LaMotta.

Late in 1957, he was charged and convicted on two counts of promoting prostitution and served 6 months on a chain gang, though he always maintained he was innocent. The 14-year-old had been arrested for prostitution and told the authorities that she plied her trade at his club. Jake's life at the time was a downward spiral as divorce, alcoholism and financial ruin affected him. It was May 1958 when he was released from jail and he had lost 57 pounds while locked up. He had not slowed down any though and was arrested again in December for going 80 in a 65mph zone on Florida's Turnpike. Later in the month, he began his acting career, playing Harry Brock in Born Yesterday at the newly opened Laroc Theater.

It was around this time that he was involved in an incident with another boxing legend, Willie Pep, (the subject of the fourth article in this series which you can read by clicking here)according to Matt Cimber, the TV director responsible for 'GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling'. Cimber was in Pep's bar on Seventh Avenue having a meal, LaMotta was also in there just hanging out at the bar when a hulking, well-dressed Japanese man approached him. According to Cimber, the Japanese man was a collector for the Jewish loan sharks and he tapped LaMotta, trying to get his attention. LaMotta ignored him. "Of course, this persistent guy keeps bumping Jake. Finally the guy got really angry and was losing his patience. He took his elbow and hit him right in the back of the neck. Jake turned around and belted this guy. To this day, I could hear the crack. The guy just folded right to the floor." Willie Pep always had a golf club that he kept behind the bar and "He came out with the club and started swinging it [at LaMotta] and said, 'Get out of here, you bum.' Jake is going, 'I'm sorry, Willie. I didn't mean it.' Jake just took off out the door. Nobody messed with Willie Pep."

In 1960, LaMotta was before a US Senate sub-committee that was investigating the links between boxing and the criminal underworld. LaMotta spoke openly about throwing his bout with Billy Fox in order to get a title shot, explaining the deal that he had made in order to get his chance. He was warned that he might be killed for testifying against the mob, but he replied that "I'm not afraid of none of them rats."

LaMotta's acting career took a step forward over the next few years as he played a bartender in The Hustler, a 1961 film with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. Over the next three years he also appeared in several episodes of NBC police comedy TV show, Car 54 Where Are You? In 1965, he had a run in the New York City Center production of Guys and Dolls playing 'Big Jule'. It was the release of his autobiography, Raging Bull: My Story, which was to lead to his true fame. It was published in 1970 and told of his life, the good and the bad. He revealed a history of violence against women, including admitting to rape. LaMotta also told of his life as a teenage criminal and his reformation in prison, his career in boxing and struggles with organised crime, who kept the world title from his grasp until he agreed to work with them. Oddly, brother Joey, who had been his manager, was not mentioned at all, totally cut out of his life in the book, which was ghostwritten by Peter Savage and Joseph Carter.

LaMotta was also on a 1970s TV show, alongside his great rival Sugar Ray Robinson, called How It Was, which was presented by Curt Gowdy. LaMotta revealed his struggles to make the weight while fighting at middleweight: "I always had trouble making 160 pounds. In my book, I wrote that I lost over 4,000 pounds in my lifetime. The greatest diet I know, eat all you want but don't swallow it. Sometimes, it caught up to me." Incidentally, Robinson and LaMotta became close friends and Robinson was the best man at LaMotta's 6th wedding.

His autobiography became an obsession for actor Robert De Niro, who became determined to make a film of it and roped in Martin Scorsese to direct it. Raging Bull, as the film was called, was a box office flop on release in 1980, despite De Niro spending months training with LaMotta for the boxing scenes. However, it became a classic of cinema and was nominated for 8 Oscars, including the Best Actor, which De Niro took home for his betrayal of LaMotta, though LaMotta was not initially happy with his portrayal on screen. Jake's second wife, Vikki, cashed in on the fame that came from Raging Bull by doing a nude pictorial for Playboy magazine at the age of 51. LaMotta said after, "She always complained she had nothing to wear. I never believed her until I saw her in Playboy." A second autobiography followed in 1986, imaginatively titled Raging Bull II and in 1990 he was inducted into the inaugural class of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.

Tragedy struck in February 1998 when his eldest son, Jake LaMotta Jr, died of liver cancer. A few months later, in September, his younger son Joseph LaMotta died in the crash of Swissair Flight 111. Both sons were the result of his marriage to Vikki, who also died in 2005. In 2008 he was interviewed by The Times and spoke about his jealousy and abuse of his wives: "If you had a girl and she was beautiful and other people were trying to invite her out and seduce her, wouldn’'t you get angry? That's the thing. I saw these obvious jerks and schmucks coming on with their lines and it bothered me. I never really and truly hit my wives. If I had hit them properly they would be dead. You know how it is: you slap around a broad just a little bit and everything is blown out of proportion."

Despite being in his 90s, he appeared in a 50-minute stage production in New York City, focused on his boxing career. It was entitled Lady and the Champ. It is fair to say that it did not meet with critical acclaim, the New York Times calling it poorly executed and a "bizarre debacle". A few months later he married his co-star from the production, long-time fiancee Denise Baker on 4 January 2013. After a long battle over the name, with it originally being called Raging Bull II, the second movie about his life, which was in no way related to the original one, was released in 2017. The name had been changed to LaMotta: The Bronx Bull. A short while later, on 19 September 2017, Jake LaMotta, the Raging Bull, was dead at the age of 95 in Aventura, Florida. The former middleweight champion of the world was finally knocked out by pneumonia.

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Written by Tris Burke October 16 2024 03:44:07