graziano and hate lamotta? he was a much better fighter than graziano. and graziano was a sometime dirty fighter.
Maybe because Graziano was more of a puncher, had those wars with Zale, and a more likeable personality. Although Graziano's personality to the public was really mroe known after his career was done.
Jake was hardly customer friendly,he even argued regularly with his brother,he was deeply suspcious,moody and morose,Graziano was an outgoing street kid.
Because Rocky was lovable and Jake was a nasty ***** ... no surprises there ... 15 years ago I lived in his (Jake's) building in NYC. The first time I saw Jake in the elevator and was so shocked I said hey champ and he basically looked at me like dirt and walked away when the door opened ... he was not a nice guy and I saw him multiple times ... keep in mind he was not exactly still champ with people breaking down the door to see him either ...
You can get a fairly good idea of his dispostition by watching him in raging bull. He never got along with anyone including his neighbors or business associates. He like to punch his brother around too
He was actually a better person in the movie, than he was in real life (or according to his autobiography). What a dirtbag. Too bad the ref didn't allow Ray Robinson (another dirtbag) to beat him up even more in the 13th.
listened to an old radio broadcast of a lamotta fight and the announcer said he was a polit and well respected man outside the ring. also called him by his first miniker "jake lamotta the one man gang"(something i never knew,)he aslo reminded the listners to tune in next week for the sonny horne vs TOMMY graziano fight. never heard anyone call rocky by his given name pretty neat
An awful lot of blown-up welters on Graziano's record. I think Jake would have mugged him 3 out of 3.
no disput bout that. but i was just wondering why everyone seemed to hate jake? when i listen to an announcer of that time say hes a polite and well respected man outside the ring. not well liked but at least polite. how can a polite person be disliked by so many?that was one of his main drawing card that people came to see him get his brains beat out because he was so disliked.rocky graziano was no angel(dishonorable discharge from the service)
How can a "polite" person be hated by so many? It's easy. An ambiguous, well-placed smile in answer to a question or in response to the greeting of a well-wisher can very easily be viewed as "polite" yet at the same time send the message of "**** off" to the well-wisher/fan. Nothing more than that well-placed smile with an insincere vertone to it, a half-hearted knod in acknowledgement - then the turning of attention elsewhere - will certainly cause any well-wishing fan to reconsider their stance/idolatry. Trust me. Of LaMotta - I have heard he reacts like this 99% of the time to fans. There's your answer.
There are others on this board, I'll let them identify themselves if they are of a mind to, who had pretty close personal contact with both of them. What I knew about these two guys I got indirectly, from someone who did know them both, and basedon that I'd have to echo what he grant said in his post, that is that at least on the surface Rocky was a lovable guy and Jake could be a *****. The only thing I would add to this was that Rocky was a mob fighter almost from the get-go, whereas Jake was a hold out in that regard, only started doin business when it became clear he'd have to and to me, that should count for something. We all prefer to associate with affable, pleasant people, but, and I won't mind being corrected if I am wrong, jake did seem to conduct himself in his boxing career with more integrity than Rocky. Now he also had more talent than Rocky, and knew he had a better shot of getting somewhere in the game without selling out. Rocky probably figured right away that he'd need the mob behind him if he were to make the kinda buck he wanted to. I don't know, people are complicated. There are all kinds of experiences in our early lives that go into making us who we are. From all accounts Jake was not a nice man. Now what else he did, how he treated others in the latter part of his life and up until today, I don't know. Just to say no doubt Graziano was a more palatable guy than LaMotta, but it did take heart and pride for Jake to hold out long as he did.
