He was all the Rage
No fighter fiercer, no guy sweeter than late LaMotta
BY THE time I got to shake Jake LaMotta’s hand, he was a sweet old guy who smiled all the time and seemed to love everybody. You never would have guessed he had been one of the meanest and fiercest fighters in boxing history.
LaMotta, the longest-living boxing champion, died on Tuesday in a Miamiarea nursing home at age 95 from pneumonia, taking life the distance and earning a unanimous victory. He held the middleweight title from 1949-51, highlighting a 13-year boxing career that began in 1941.
His six fights with the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson are part of boxing lore and his brawling style inspired the 1980 movie “Raging Bull.” The film earned him a legion of fight fans, young and old. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
“Jake LaMotta was one of the toughest and most relentless boxers in ring history,” Hall of Fame executive director Edward Bro- phy said. “The Hall of Fame joins the boxing world in mourning the passing of a legend.”
Giacobbe “Jake” LaMotta was born July 10, 1922, and raised in The Bronx. He turned pro when he was 19 and is remembered for his iconic fights with Robinson, who many consider the greatest boxer of all time.
They first fought in October 1942 with Robinson winning a 10-round decision. They fought twice in the same month in 1943, with LaMotta handing Robinson the first loss of his career on a 10-round decision that featured Robinson being knocked through the ropes in the eighth round.
Robinson won the rematch three weeks later after being floored, again in the eighth round. LaMotta won just one of the six fights between the two, but their brutal wars created a series of memories that last to this day.
“He and Robinson became the perfect foils for each other,” boxing historian Larry Merchant said. “The fact they fought six times says something about their styles as well as their abilities. One guy was a jazz pianist and the other was a drummer.”
Robinson said of LaMotta, “I never fought a fighter as strong as he is.”
Strong, tough, mean: LaMotta was all of that.
“He was born that way,” Merchant said. “Some guys, because of how they’re made physically, are able to absorb punishment more than others. You have to have a certain mindset to fight the way he did and became the model for that kind of warrior.”
LaMotta had interests outside the ring. He had a night club act, published several books about his career, and appeared in a stage production about his life, called “Lady and the Champ,” in 2012. Even in his golden years he symbolized the toughness of the Italian immigrants of his era.
“He was Rocky before Rocky,” Merchant said. “He was an iconic tough guy.”
The Raging Bull will be missed.