LaMotta (left) and De Niro together in 1981, a year after the release of Raging Bull.
You know you’re a legend when it takes not one but two cinematic masterpieces to encompass all of your greatness, your controversies and your personality, in and out of the ring.
And Jake La Motta was, indeed, a legend.
Born Giacobbe LaMotta on July 10, 1922 on New York’s Lower East Side and later raised in the harsh, harsh pre-depression-era Bronx, Jake was a street hustler from his earliest childhood who learned the basics of his future profession wandering the streets. streets alongside a colorful cast of characters including future great sidekick Rocky Graziano, among others.
After completing his boxing apprenticeship in the juvenile correctional facilities of his day, LaMotta made his professional debut at age 19 in 1941. He quickly developed a reputation for having a granite chin, absorbing vast amounts of punishment while reciprocating it with relish. .
LaMotta was a fringe 25-5-2 contender in 1942 when he faced the all-time great Sugar Ray Robinson for the first time in a six-fight series that would define LaMotta’s career. The following year, they fought twice in a span of 21 days in Detroit, with the second fight an instant rematch after LaMotta handed Robinson the first loss of his career. Robinson would later extend his record once broken to 129-1-2, an extraordinary achievement that included no fewer than four additional victories over LaMotta, including the infamous “St. Saint Valentine’s Massacre” in the final chapter of their rivalry in 1951.
In that final fight against Robinson, LaMotta lost the Ring middleweight belt he had taken from Frenchman Marcel Cerdan in 1949, a title he defended twice in 1950 against Tiberio Mitri and Laurent Dauthuille. In 1952, he lost by knockout to Danny Nardico in the only fight LaMotta visited the canvas in his 13 years and 106 professional fights. He proceeded to retire after a short-lived comeback in 1954.
In a career that was marked by ups and downs, unfair decisions and a refusal to put on fights for the mob that ran boxing in those days, LaMotta still managed to beat world-class fighters ranging from welterweight to light heavyweight, including names like like Fritzie Zivic, George Kochan, Tommy Bell, Bert Lytell, Jose Basora, Bob Satterfield, Holman Williams and Tony Janiro.
His larger-than-life personality outside the ring, with his criminal past and his seven marriages and his late stint as a club owner and late-night entertainer, earned his biopic “Raging Bull” a consideration for a motion picture production with that same name. The result was what is still considered the best boxing movie of all time.
Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece was produced in 1980 and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, with Robert De Niro winning Best Actor for his portrayal of LaMotta. Another film called “The Bronx Bull” was later produced and released, starring William Forsythe as LaMotta and Paul Sorvino as his father, which includes all the extraordinary moments that “Raging Bull” had not portrayed, including LaMotta’s testimony before Congress. in his hearings to investigate the mafia’s involvement in the boxing industry.
After a life that pretty much defined the word “fame” within the boxing context, LaMotta was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.
LaMotta died on September 19, 2017 in Florida, at the age of 95.
Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and other outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an electing member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest and is the moderator of The Ring’s women’s ratings panel. He served as editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com. Follow him on Twitter @MorillaBoxing
