'Raging Bull' Jake LaMotta Dies

NEW YORK, NY – The fighter made famous by Robert De Niro in the movie "Raging Bull" has died. Jake LaMotta was 95.

LaMotta, born on New York City's Lower East Side and raised in The Bronx, died Tuesday in a Miami-area hospital from complications of pneumonia, according to his fiancee Denise Baker. "Rest in Peace, Champ," De Niro said in a statement.

The Bronx Bull, as he was known in his fighting days, compiled an 83-19-4 record with 30 knockouts in a career that began in 1941 and ended in 1954. He fought the great Sugar Ray Robinson six times, handing Robinson the first defeat of his career and losing the middleweight title to him in a storied match.

In the fight before he lost the title, LaMotta saved the championship in movie-script fashion against Laurent Dauthuille. Trailing badly on all three scorecards, LaMotta knocked out the challenger with 13 seconds left in the fight. (For more neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

LaMotta threw a fight against Billy Fox in Madison Square Garden in 1947, which he admitted in testimony before the Kefauver Committee, a U.S. Senate committee investigating organized crime in 1960. "I purposely lost a fight to Billy Fox because they promised me that I would get a shot to fight for the title if I did," LaMotta said in 1970 interview printed in Peter Heller's 1973 book "In This Corner: 40 World Champions Tell Their Stories."

The 1980 film "Raging Bull," based on LaMotta's memoir written 10 years earlier, was nominated for eight Academy Awards. Though director Martin Scorsese was passed over, De Niro, who gained 50 pounds to portray the older, heavier LaMotta, won the best actor award.

Renowned for his strong chin, and the punishment he could take, and dish out, LaMotta was knocked down only once — in a 1952 loss to light-heavyweight Danny Nardico — in his 106 fights.

He became middleweight champion in 1949, and held the title until Feb. 14, 1951, when Robinson stopped him in the 13th round in Chicago. In a fight that became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, LaMotta gave as good as he got in the early rounds, then took tremendous punishment. He would not go down.

In their second match, on Feb. 5, 1943, in New York, LaMotta won a 10-round decision, giving Robinson his first defeat in the 41st fight of his illustrious career.

LaMotta was born July 10, 1922. After retiring from boxing in 1954, he owned a nightclub for a time in Miami, then dabbled in show business and commercials. He also made personal appearances and, for a while in the 1970s, he was a host at a topless nightclub in New York.

In 1998, LaMotta, who had four daughters, lost both of his sons. Jake LaMotta Jr., 51, died from cancer in February. Joe LaMotta, 49, was killed in plane crash off Nova Scotia in September.

A funeral in Miami and a memorial service in New York City are being planned, Baker said.

Lead image Ap Photo/File