Legendary Raging Bull Boxer, Jake LaMotta a.k.a The Bronx Bully is Dead

Posted by Odinaka on Wed 20th Sep, 2017 - tori.ng

The Bronx boxer who captured the world middleweight championship and whose turbulent life was later the subject of the 1980 film, Raging Bull, has died on Tuesday.

Jake LaMotta a.k.a The Bronx Bully

Jake LaMotta, the uncompromising fighter portrayed by Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, has died aged 95 in a nursing home due to complications from pneumonia, his wife told US news site, TMZ.

"I just want people to know, he was a great, sweet, sensitive, strong, compelling man with a great sense of humour, with eyes that danced," Mrs LaMotta said.

He often wore a hooded leopard-print robe into the ring

Born on 10 July 1922 to Italian parents in the Bronx area of New York City, the former world middleweight boxing champion, took up boxing after being rejected by the US military due to a medical condition.

LaMotta first won national recognition two years after landing on the professional boxing circuit, when he handed Sugar Ray Robinson his first ever defeat in 1943.

His rough style, and strong chin, made him one of the most famous fighters in boxing during the 1940s and 1950s at a time when boxing was one of the nation's most popular sports.

Jake LaMotta celebrates after victory over Tiberio Mitri in December 1950. (Photo: Corbis)

After resisting Mafia efforts to control him, he later admitted to intentionally losing a fight at the behest of mobsters in 1947, causing him to suffer a suspension from the sport.

According to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, his career record was 83 wins, 19 losses, 4 draws, and 30 knockouts.

After retiring from the ring in 1954, he went on to act in several films, also touring as a stand-up comedian.