LaMotta moved up to light heavyweight and fought a few more times after this tremendous defeat, but he never earned another title shot. The beating was so bad that a referee stepped in to end the fight in the 13th round. Valentine's Day Massacre," Robinson landed powerful punch after punch, but LaMotta refused to go down. In 1951, he faced longtime rival Sugar Ray Robinson in the ring for the sixth and final time. ![]() LaMotta then successfully defended his title against Tiberio Mitri and Laurent Dauthuille, the latter win coming via a dramatic last-second knockout. The two were scheduled for a rematch, which had to be called off after Cerdan died in a plane crash. In 1949, LaMotta defeated French champ Marcel Cerdan for the middleweight championship. But his most notorious fight was his loss to Billy Fox in 1947, which prompted widespread speculation that he purposely threw the bout. Other heavy hitters got a taste of LaMotta's bull-like style, including Fritzie Zivic, Tommy Bell and Tony Janiro. But he was also a deceptively smart fighter, often duping opponents into thinking he was losing steam before launching his attack.Īfter suffering a defeat in his first fight with boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson, LaMotta became the first boxer to defeat Robinson in a 1943 bout. ![]() Aggressive and relentless in the ring, he was known for his ability to take a punch. His 1970 autobiography was adapted into Martin Scorsese's acclaimed 1980 biopic Raging Bull, which starred Robert De Niro as LaMotta.Īt the age of 19, the rough, streetwise LaMotta became a professional boxer. Jake LaMotta was a former middleweight boxing champion whose life and career is the subject of Martin Scorsese's acclaimed film 'Raging Bull.'. This is a signed montage of one of the great ever names in boxing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |