Giacobbe "Jake" LaMotta was an American professional boxer who was world middleweight champion between 1949 and 1951.
49 Facts About Jake LaMotta
2.
Jake LaMotta, who lived a turbulent life in and out of the ring, was managed by his brother Joey.
3.
Jake LaMotta was ranked 52nd on Ring Magazines list of the "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years", and ranked amongst its list of the 10 greatest middleweights of all time.
4.
Jake LaMotta was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.
5.
Jake LaMotta's autobiography was adapted into the 1980 Martin Scorsese film Raging Bull.
6.
Jake LaMotta was born on the Lower East Side of New York City on July 10,1922, to Italian parents, Elizabeth and Joseph Jake LaMotta.
7.
Jake LaMotta's mother was born in the United States to Italian immigrants, while his father was an immigrant from Messina, Sicily, who came with family including his brother Joseph.
8.
Jake LaMotta's father forced the boy to fight other boys in order to entertain neighborhood adults, who threw pocket change into the ring.
9.
Jake LaMotta's father collected the money and used it to help pay the rent.
10.
Jake LaMotta learned to box while in a reformatory in upstate New York, where he'd been sent for attempted robbery.
11.
Once the fight resumed, Jake LaMotta landed a left on Reeves' chin, sending him down face-first.
12.
Jake LaMotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson in Robinson's middleweight debut at Madison Square Garden, New York City, October 2,1942.
13.
Jake LaMotta knocked Robinson down in the first round of the fight.
14.
Jake LaMotta landed a right to Robinson's head and a left to his body, sending him through the ropes.
15.
Jake LaMotta, who was already leading on the scorecards before knocking Robinson out of the ring, pummeled and outpointed him for the rest of the fight.
16.
Jake LaMotta won via unanimous decision, giving Robinson the first defeat of his career.
17.
Jake LaMotta said the fight was given to Robinson because he would be inducted into the army the next day.
18.
Jake LaMotta later said in his autobiography that the decision was widely criticized by several newspapers and boxing publishers.
19.
On November 14,1947, Jake LaMotta was knocked out in the fourth round by Billy Fox.
20.
Jake LaMotta won the World Middleweight title on June 16,1949, in Detroit, Michigan, defeating Frenchman Marcel Cerdan.
21.
Jake LaMotta won the first round, Cerdan the second, and the third was even.
22.
Jake 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.
Jake LaMotta made his first title defense against Tiberio Mitri on July 7,1950, at Madison Square Garden, New York.
24.
Jake LaMotta hit Dauthuille with a barrage of punches that sent him down against the ropes toward the end of the round.
25.
Jake LaMotta moved up to light heavyweight after losing his world middleweight title.
26.
Jake LaMotta lost his debut against Bob Murphy, lost a split decision to Norman Hayes, and drew with Gene Hairston in his first three bouts.
27.
On December 31,1952, Jake LaMotta had his next fight against Danny Nardico.
28.
Jake LaMotta knocked LaMotta down for the only time in his career by a right hand in the seventh round.
29.
Jake LaMotta got up and was beaten against a corner by Nardico until the bell rang.
30.
Jake LaMotta's corner stopped the bout before the eighth round began.
31.
Jake LaMotta was convicted and served six months on a chain gang, although he maintained his innocence.
32.
In 1960 Jake LaMotta was called to testify before a US Senate sub-committee that was looking into underworld influence on boxing.
33.
Jake LaMotta testified that he had thrown his bout with Billy Fox so that the mob would arrange a title bout for him.
34.
Jake LaMotta appeared in more than 15 films, including The Hustler with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, in which he had a role as a bartender.
35.
The Jake LaMotta team played in Sterling Oval which was located between 165th and 164th Streets between Clay and Teller Avenue.
36.
In 1965, Jake LaMotta appeared as "Big Jule" in the New York City Center production of Guys and Dolls for 15 performances alongside Alan King and Jerry Orbach.
37.
Jake LaMotta is recognized as having had one of the best chins in boxing.
38.
Jake LaMotta rolled with punches, minimizing their force and damage when they landed, but he was able to absorb many blows.
39.
Jake 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.
40.
Jake LaMotta had a troubled personal life, including a spell in a reformatory, and was married seven times.
41.
In September 1998, his younger son, Joseph Jake LaMotta, died in the crash of Swissair Flight 111.
42.
Jake LaMotta had four daughters, including Christi by his second wife Vikki Jake LaMotta and Stephanie by his fourth wife Dimitria.
43.
Jake LaMotta married his seventh wife, his longtime fiancee Denise Baker, on January 4,2013.
44.
Jake LaMotta remained active on the speaking and autograph circuit, and published several books about his career, his life, and his fights with Robinson.
45.
Jake LaMotta appeared in a 50-minute New York stage production, Lady and the Champ, in July 2012.
46.
Jake LaMotta is the subject of a documentary directed and produced by Greg Olliver.
47.
Also in production was a sequel to Raging Bull, although MGM filed suit to halt the project, saying that Jake LaMotta did not have the right to make a sequel.
48.
The lawsuit was settled on July 31,2012, when Jake LaMotta agreed to change the title of the film to The Bronx Bull.
49.
Jake LaMotta died on September 19,2017, from complications of pneumonia in a nursing home in Florida, at the age of 95.