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Yes, I thought my eyes were playing tricks with me. Looks way more amateurish and crude for it to be Jake. Doesn't look like him, looks more like Graziano. Also the way he helped his man up. I don't know...

 

I think it was probably LaMotta in the amateurs. I have some film of LaMotta fighting in the amateurs and he looks similar. You can see he is far more polished in the Tommy Bell fight, and manages to make Bell miss often.

 

It is Jake LaMotta at 19. I have the original film of that clip which is an old newsreel. It has sound and identifies him as such. Remember, LaMotta was a LHW as an amateur.

 

This is the only clip of LaMotta in the amateurs...

 

It is but the film I had seen was of different colour and from another angle which is why I didn't instantly recognize it.

Here you can see a short clip of it:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qZmOQxo05w[/ame]

3:05

 

Gotcha

 

Its not that big of a deal, no need to get bent out of shape over it.

 

OF,

His style was different because he was still an amateur and all of 19 years of age, as for the chest hair how much if it did you have at that age? I`ve got a helluva lot more of it now in my late twentys than I did when I was 18/19, so that means nothing really.

 

Perhaps. I can't remember back that far. On the chest hair bit, I was thinking of this film being made in the mid-forties.

I still don't think it is an authentic film of Jake LaMotta even in 1939 or 1940. I just don't think don't the film is that old. The camera work is far better than anything I have seen from the late thirties or early forties. Compare this film in quality to Louis-Conn or even Louis-Walcott. By the looks of the film stock being used and the technique, I would guess this was filmed in the late fifties or early sixties.

Looking at the guy who is supposed to be LaMotta, well, you got me. He just doesn't look very much like Jake, and of course throws punches differently. He also looks pretty sleek for being at lightheavyweight who would spend his career fighting at middle.

The other film from ESPN might well be authentic, but LaMotta looks much blockier and so does his opponent.

Of course, I wasn't there, so they could show us any film and say it is LaMotta and who knows. I remain skeptical about this one.

 

It is definately Jake LaMotta winning the diamond belt at age 19. As stated, I have the original sound film which was a newsreel. In it they call Jake by name.

He was indeed blockier because he was fighting at 175 pounds in the amateurs. That was the diamond belt 175 pound final.

 

OF,

I have some more reels from different angles of this brief footage and I assure you that it is indeed Jake, one of the reels even has sound on it and it clearly identifys Jake as one of the combatants on the footage. And the ESPN clip is the same as mine, you can tell by the way Miller goes down and jake reaches out to tap him on the shoulder.

As for the quality of the film digital remastering and other technological advances has made it possible to make old fight films appear crystal clear, the poster who goes by the name of Klompton can tell you more about it if you wish. Either way the footage is indeed LaMotta, you can take that to the bank.

 

I wouldn't dispute anything you say here, but I remain skeptical. The grain of this film just doesn't look that old, and I find it odd that they were using several cameras to film AAU fights in 1939 or 1940. Compare this film with Louis-Conn, or Louis-Walcott, or even a Marciano fight. It looks more modern. My guess is that this film is from the late fifties or early sixties.

My only comment is that if this is LaMotta, you could fool me, not only in style, but would a young fellow fighting at lightheavy who spent most of his career fighting at middle have such a narrow waist and look so sleek? And to my eyes he doesn't look like LaMotta facially.

The grainy film within the Robinson excerpt looks more authentic. I thought the fighters on this film, while similar, appeared bulkier with LaMotta's opponent wider across the shoulders.

 

You missed my point. He appears more blocky on the dirty film shot at a different angle.

Question--You can clean up a film, but can you be certain the original film is of LaMotta? The narration might prove that but I would like to hear it. It is always possible that narration was put on an old film for one of those fifties sports newsreels which used to show all the time--"Great moments in sports"--and that sort of thing. It would still be possible unless we have the original 1939 newsreel that they made a mistake.

Is that original sound newsreel available.

*I am sorry--I thought my first post did not go through.

 

Big time THANKS for posting! Enjoyed the Tiger/Armstrong, LaMotta, and Zale/Bettina highlights. Fantastic stuff! (Zale did have good footwork!)

 

I have looked at the film and I would have to see or hear a lot of evidence to think these are of the same fight.

In the first, the "LaMotta" guy is wearing socks with a white stripe, then a black stripe, and then another white stripe.

In the second film, I froze the frame several times between 3:16 and 3:19 when the "LaMotta" fighter is moving toward the camera, to when he has his opponent against the ropes, and his socks appear to be black with no white stripes, at least to my eyes. The white stripes on the socks of his opponent is clearly visible.

The fighters, referee, and the last knockdown looks very similar. They would have to be very similar to fool people into making an error in identification.