Jake LaMotta a life in film

I thought Id do a little photo tribute on Jakes life taken from film stills:

In late 1939 Jake was introduced to Mike Capriano by his brother Joey after Jake had been paroled from the vocational school where he had been sentenced due to a burglary charge. Jake had learned to box while serving time and Joey had met Capriano who operated the Teasdale Athletic Club next door to a pool room Joey hung out at. After a brief amateur career topped by winning the 1940 New York Diamond belt sub novice 175 class. Below is Jake winning that contest against Jimmy Miller of the Abysinnia Club on December 16, 1940:

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Within a few months Jake had turned pro under Capriano and quickly ran up a string of victories. His ferocity in the ring, aggressiveness, and physical strength earned him the nickname of "the one man riot squad" and in just over a year Jake had dropped down from light heavyweight to middleweight and was fighting some of the most respected fighters in the division. Jake quickly went through the ratings and found himself at the top of the division but his paranoia and natural distrust of managers caused a rift between he and Capriano. The feud came to a head when Jake allegedly beat the hell out of Capriano, threw him down a flight a stairs and forced him to sign a release of his contract. Capriano pressed charges but the case was ultimately dismissed. However this had a very negative impact on his career as fighters were expected to give a percentage of their contract to connected New York managers in order to move up in the rankings and get title shots. Jakes refusal to do business with these mob backed managers resulted in his career stagnating even as he sat atop of the ratings. In answer to this Jake purchased both the Park Arena and Jerome Stadium in New York where he promoted and staged his own fights in addition to others. The Dumont TV network came in and broadcast his fights every tuesday night. Despite no forward momentum in his own career Jake was now one of the wealthiest fighters in the world. Below we see him during this period facing Vic Dellicurti in their third match at St Nicks in 1945:

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And Tommy Bell II at Madison Square Garden the following year:

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Later that year on the LaMotta-Satterfield undercard Jakes brother Joey was beaten by Anton Raadik. Jake swore revenge and bet Anton his brand new leopard skin robe that he would beat him. Anton accepted and three months later Jake avenged the family name:

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In his next fight Jake defeated Tommy Bell in their rubber match:

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By this point Jake was getting desperate for a title fight and the mob was hounding him persistently. He had been the number one contender for a long while and if he ever hoped to get a title shot they would need to get their cut. He was approached to throw his upcoming fight with Tony Janiro but refused. Janiro was an up and coming fighter trying to break into the middleweight division and Jake badly wanted to beat him. The only way the mob would give him the payday was if Jake agreed to weigh in under 155 or pay $15,000. No small task for a guy who was fighting at 175 pounds in the amateurs. Jake agreed, made the weight and brutalized Janiro. Still Jake couldn't get a title shot. He then fought Cecil Hudson in Chicago and figured if he did just enough to win but look vulnerable in the process he might entice either Rocky Graziano or Tony Zale into a title fight. Instead the judges awarded Hudson a narrow decision. Jake was then approached by Blinky Palermo who was trying to rebuild his fighter Billy Fox's reputation for another title shot at Gus Lesnevich. He offered Jake $50,000 and rematch to throw a fight to Fox. The Genovese crime family was behind this with Fat Tony Salerno hoping to make a betting coup by betting against LaMotta with Yonkers gambling king Thomas Milo acting as the intermediary. Still hoping to trick the top guys into believing Jake was now shot he agreed to throw the fight. It was one of the worst kept secrets in boxing at the time and as a result bookies quickly got wind of it and refused to take bets on the fight. As a result the mob couldn't make as much as they hoped and only paid Jake half of what was promised. His acting in the fight was so bad that the Athletic Commission in conjunction with the District Attorney launched an investigation. Nothing could be proven but the resulting controversy over the fight meant a rematch was dead in the water and Jake could not prove himself again against Fox. Jake was suspended for a time because at best excuse of an injured spleen causing him to fight poorly meant he knowingly fought under a handicap. Jake was now something of a boxing pariah. It would be a year and a half before he would finally get his title shot. By then many feared he was a spent force. In the meantime Jake went back to the drawing board trying to stay active.

Below we see him knocking out Joey Dejohn in Syracuse in 1949:

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Finally in the summer of 1949 Jake was contacted by mob front manager Lew Burston who acted as champion Marcel Cerdan's "New York Representative" Burston stated that LaMotta could have a shot at the title but only if a bribe of $20,000 was paid. If Jake won he would be paid nothing and would grant Cerdan an immediate rematch. Jake readily agreed and took Cerdan's title.

The two fighters sign:
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Jake trains for Cerdan at Gleasons gym:
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Jake defeating Cerdan:
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Jake had been all set for a rematch with Cerdan when a postponement forced a delay. When the fight approached Cerdan boarded a plane for America. That plane never arrived and Cerdan died in a tragic accident that left a gaping hole in the division. LaMotta who had a genuine affection and respect for Cerdan was visibly despondent when he sent a filmed message to the people of France stating that he would now fight to represent them as well as the United States:

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Jakes first defense was to be against Rocky Graziano but Graziano was injured in training (the rumor was that he didn't believe Jake would fight him, when he found out the fight was on he walked over to a tree in full view of reporters and punched it, breaking his hand to get out of the fight). Italian Tiberio Mitri was substituted in Graziano's place and took a neat boxing lesson:

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Jakes second defense against Laurent Dauthille was full of drama as Jake, no longer training as hard as he once did, could not mount the same sustained attack as in his prime. He quickly fell behind on points and looked headed for a sure loss when Jake pulled his tried and true possum trick. Stumbling around the ring with his arms hanging limp by his sides Jake looked all in in the final round. Dauthille pounced on him and chased him to the ropes. Hammering blow after blow that Jake either absorbed or deftly slipped the Frenchman soon became arm weary and then it was LaMotta's turn. He battered Dauthille around the ring before finally knocking him out with mere seconds on the clock. It was a sensational victory:

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Jakes reign would be a shortone however as he had the misfortune of running up against one of the greatest pieces of fighting machinery in history. In fight dubbed the St. Valentines Day Massacre LaMotta was stopped for the first time in his career after an interesting fight with ebbs and flows. Robinson took over in the later rounds and systematically wore a weight drained LaMotta down to take the championship. Despite the stoppage LaMotta refused to be knocked off his feet and could boast of that moral victory:

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Four months later LaMotta was back, having set his sights on Joey Maxim's light heavyweight championship. LaMotta reasoned that without draining himself he could retain his strength and durability and be more effective than he had been at middleweight. He made the ill advised move of jumping right into the thick of contention with highly rated light heavyweight power puncher Irish Bob Murphy. Murphy wore LaMotta down and LaMotta was forced to quit on his stool between rounds:

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Jake then dropped back down to middleweight the following year and lost a razor thin decision to Norman Hayes in Hayes backyard. Followed by a draw with Eugene Silent Hairston seen below:

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By now Jakes career seemed to be in free fall with his best years behind him. If he were to continue he would need to wipe out those last three fights and that's just what he did. First defeating Hayes:

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Then Hairston:

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Then turning in one of his best performances in years against Murphy:

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LaMotta's resurgence was not to be however. In his next fight he was stopped by Danny Nardico after being dropped for the first time in his career:

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Jake retired but a little over a year later made an ill advised comeback. He notched two wins but after losing to Billy Kilgore he retired for good:

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Jake had since moved from New York to Florida and opened a nightclub. In 1957, three years after retiring Jake was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor when a teenage girl was caught operating as a prostitute at his nightclub. As a result Jake lost everything.

Three years later, with nothing left to lose and seemingly no lower to fall Jake testified before the senate sub-committee investigating organized crimes involvement in boxing. He was the star witness and blew the lid wide open on how organized crime controlled boxing. The highlight of his testimony was a visibly remorseful LaMotta (now pudgy and seemingly middle aged) admitting what everyone had known for years: That he threw his fight to Fox:

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Now LaMotta was truly an outcast. He spent the next ten years ignored by boxings establishment, flitting from unsuccessful marriage to the next, suffering bouts of extreme poverty, and eking out a living wherever he could. Then in 1970 he published his memoirs and found himself back in the limelight. The book became a hit and LaMotta found himself back on the interview circuit:

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Three years later a young actor who would soon become one of the hottest properties in Hollywood read "Raging Bull" and became fascinated with LaMotta. He lobbied Martin Scorsese to direct an adaptation but Scorsese, who knew or cared little about boxing, refused. As a result the development of the film took years but was finally released in 1980 and revitalized LaMotta's career. From that point on he was regular along the interview circuit, memorabilia shows, giving monologues, and making public appearances:

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In his final years he became a symbol of toughness and perseverance in the face of hardship and remained as tough and unbending as he had been in his years in the ring:

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He died at the age of 95 on September 19, 2017. The last link to a bygone era.