Jake LaMotta biography
Jake LaMotta, byname of Giacobbe LaMotta, (born July 10, 1922, New York, New York, U.S.—died September 19, 2017, Aventura, Florida), American boxer and world middleweight boxing champion (1949–51) whose stamina and fierceness within the ring earned him the nickname “the Bronx Bull.” Lacking finesse, he typically allowed himself to take a extreme beating earlier than ferociously turning on his foe. His opponents didn't knock him down in 106 skilled fights.
LaMotta grew up in a Bronx slum and turned to boxing whereas in jail. His first skilled bout was in 1941, and on February 5, 1943, he gained nationwide recognition by handing Sugar Ray Robinson his first defeat. This victory got here within the second of six well-known bouts between the 2 fighters, the remainder of which LaMotta misplaced.
After a seven-month suspension for intentionally shedding a struggle, LaMotta returned to contend for the middleweight title. On June 16, 1949, he defeated Marcel Cerdan in Detroit for the world middleweight championship. He efficiently defended the title two occasions the next 12 months (on July 12 towards Tiberio Mitri and September 13 towards Laurent Dauthuille) earlier than shedding in Chicago to Robinson on February 14, 1951, of their last matchup. LaMotta retired from the ring in 1954 with 83 wins (30 by knockout), 19 losses, and 4 attracts.
His autobiography, Raging Bull (1970), was made right into a film, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro as LaMotta, in 1980. LaMotta later acted in a variety of movies, together with the Paul Newman automobile The Hustler (1961), and toured as a stand-up comic. In 1990 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.