Jake LaMotta boxer

Giacobbe "Jake" LaMotta (July 10, 1922 – September 19, 2017) was an American professional boxer, world middleweight champion, and stand-up comedian. Nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" or "Raging Bull", LaMotta was a rough fighter who was not a particularly big puncher, but he would subject his opponents to vicious beatings in the ring. With use of constant stalking, brawling and inside fighting, he developed the reputation for being a "bully"; he was what is often referred to today as a swarmer and a slugger.Due to his hard style of fighting, LaMotta often took in as much as he dished out in an era of great middleweights. With a thick skull and jaw muscles, LaMotta was able to absorb incredible amounts of punishment over the course of his career, and is thought to have one of the greatest chins in boxing history. LaMotta's six-fight rivalry with Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the most notable in the sport. Although each fight was close and LaMotta dropped Robinson to the canvas multiple times, LaMotta won only one of the bouts. LaMotta, who lived a turbulent life in and out of the ring, was portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 1980 film Raging Bull; LaMotta was managed by his brother Joey LaMotta, played by Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese's movie. Jake was ranked 52nd on Ring Magazine's List of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. The magazine ranked him as one of the 10 greatest middleweights of all time. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.LaMotta was born on the Lower East Side of New York City on July 10, 1922, to Italian parents, Elizabeth (Merluzzo) and Joseph LaMotta. Many sources had reported his year of birth as 1921, but his daughter Christi said in a Facebook post immediately following his death that it was in fact 1922. His mother was born in the United States to Italian immigrants, while his father was an immigrant from Messina, Sicily, who came with family including his brother Joseph. The family lived briefly in Philadelphia before returning to New York and settling in the Bronx.Jake's father forced the boy to fight other boys in order to entertain neighborhood adults, who threw pocket change into the ring. LaMotta's father collected the money and used it to help pay the rent. One of LaMotta's cousins on his father's side was Richard LaMotta, who became an entrepreneur and creator of the Chipwich ice cream treat.LaMotta learned to box while in a reformatory in upstate New York, where he'd been sent for attempted robbery. Afterward he fought undefeated in amateur bouts, turning professional at age 19 in 1941. During World War II, he was rejected for military service due to a childhood mastoid operation on one of his ears which affected his hearing.