Sugar ray robinson biography jake lamotta

Hollywood executives approached LaMotta with the idea of a movie about his life, based on his memoir Raging Bull: My Story. The film, Raging Bull , released in , was a box-office bomb , but eventually received overwhelming critical acclaim for both director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro , who gained about 60 pounds during the shooting of the film to play the older LaMotta in later scenes.

De Niro lived in Paris for three months, eating at the finest restaurants in order to gain sufficient weight to portray LaMotta after retirement. LaMotta had a troubled personal life, including an early spell in a reformatory , and was married seven times. He admitted to having raped a woman, having beaten his wives and coming close to beating a man to death during a robbery.

His nephew, John LaMotta, fought in the heavyweight -novice class of the Golden Gloves championship tournament. Another nephew, William Lustig , is a well-known director and producer of horror films and the president of Blue Underground , Inc. The production focused on LaMotta's boxing career, and was criticized by The New York Times as poorly executed and a "bizarre debacle".

LaMotta is the subject of a documentary directed and produced by Greg Olliver. The film features an appearance by Mike Tyson among other notable athletes, actors and Jake's family and friends. Also in production was a sequel to Raging Bull , although MGM filed suit to halt the project, saying that LaMotta did not have the right to make a sequel.

LaMotta died on September 19, , from complications of pneumonia in a nursing home in Florida, at the age of Contents move to sidebar hide. Robinson I—V. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version.

Sugar ray robinson biography jake lamotta

In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. American boxer — New York City , U. Aventura, Florida , U. Early life [ edit ]. Boxing career [ edit ]. LaMotta vs. Robinson I—V [ edit ]. See also: Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Jake LaMotta. Fox [ edit ]. Cerdan [ edit ]. World Middleweight Champion [ edit ]. Saint Valentine's Day Massacre of boxing [ edit ].

Main article: Jake LaMotta vs. Sugar Ray Robinson VI. Light heavyweight [ edit ]. Post-boxing [ edit ]. Fighting style [ edit ]. Raging Bull: My Story [ edit ]. Raging Bull [ edit ]. Main article: Raging Bull. Later life [ edit ]. Death [ edit ]. Professional boxing record [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Retrieved September 8, March 1, Archived from the original on January 8, Retrieved June 2, The Ring.

September 8, Retrieved February 24, The New York Times. Retrieved September 20, Archived from the original on November 9, He was only moderately successful at this, and another dark moment in his life arrived in when he admitted that he had deliberately lost his fight to Fox. LaMotta wrote an autobiography in which director Martin Scorsese adapted as the film Raging Bull.

Two years later, two of his sons died in separate incidents within the space of a few months. In later life, LaMotta turned to making personal appearances and lending his name to a range of pasta products. He is currently married to his seventh wife and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Art History U. Creating a Boxer Mentality From his early days in the ring, LaMotta displayed a relentless aggression and a sense of disdain for those who faced him.

LaMotta in His Prime At this time, the best boxer in the middleweight division by far was Sugar Ray Robinson, one of the most storied fighters of all time. Becoming a Champion In , LaMotta finally had the chance to fight for the middleweight championship of the world. Life after Boxing Once he had left the ring for good, LaMotta drifted in and out of a number of different jobs.

In the dream, according to Robinson, he dealt a fatal blow to Doyle. Representatives from the boxing commission, and even from the Roman Catholic clergy, counseled Robinson and urged him to consider that the dream was a mere nightmare. Reluctantly he agreed to proceed with the fight. In an eighth round knockout by Robinson, Doyle hit the mat.

He raised one arm momentarily, instinctively seeking the rope, but never regained consciousness and was transported to the hospital. Despite this the fight was still difficult, with LaMotta fighting harder in the later rounds. Robinson was badly hurt in the seventh round, being knocked down in his own corner and later admitting that he chose to stay down for the full eight count to recover.

Robinson rallied this time, and after going the ten round distance, Robinson won another unanimous decision 51—49, and 53— The fourth fight was held on February 23, at Madison Square Garden, the location of their first fight. LaMotta suffered a cut over the forehead in the opening round, but fought on. Like the third fight Robinson utilized his boxing skills and scored well for most of the fight, despite surviving a scare in the sixth round when he was trapped in a corner and forced to take punishment.

The fight was another victory for Robinson who won the fight 6—4, and 7—1. The fifth fight was held on September 26, , at Comiskey Park in Chicago. This would be the closest fight of the series, with LaMotta fighting aggressively to defeat his old rival. Unlike the previous fights, the fight was held for 12 rounds instead of ten. LaMotta hoped that this would give him an advantage, but Robinson stacked up a wide lead early in the fight before pulling back the pace to fight more cautiously in the later rounds.

Robinson won yet again, but this time it was a very close split decision 61—59, and 57—63 , which the crowd booed. Robinson would later state that this was his hardest fight with LaMotta. The fifth fight between the pair would be the duo's final fight for over five years. During the later half of the decade, both men rose through the ranks of their respective weight classes.

Robinson remained undefeated since his loss to LaMotta back in , and went on to win the world welterweight title in , a title he successfully defended five times before moving up in weight to fight for the middleweight title. LaMotta would go on to win the world middleweight title in after defeating champion Marcel Cerdan. LaMotta would defend his world title two times before facing of with Robinson for the final time in Robinson and LaMotta fought each other for the last time on February 14, , at the Chicago Stadium.

This fight would be held for the world's middleweight title, now held by LaMotta. Robinson entered the fight a favorite over LaMotta. The champion started the fight swinging, and fought effectively in the early rounds, but soon found himself falling behind under Robinson's onslaught of combinations and counter punches. Robinson stacked together a wide lead over the course of the next ten rounds, but in the 11th, Robinson was hurt by LaMotta, who pounded away at the challenger unanswered in an attempt to put his opponent down.

Despite the pressure, Robinson eventually responded with a barrage of his own punches, battering the now exhausted champion for the remainder of the round.