Giacobbe "Jake" LaMotta (July 10, 1922 – September 19, 2017) was an Italian-American professional boxer who was world middleweight champion between 1949 and 1951.

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.

It went on to be nominated for eight Academy Awards, with Robert De Niro winning Best Actor for his portrayal of LaMotta.

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.

Robinson won the close fight by unanimous decision, using a dazzling left jab and jarring uppercuts.

[16] A fourth fight, the duo's final 10 rounder, took place nearly two years after the third, on February 23, 1945, at Madison Square Garden, New York.

I was supposed to be throwing a fight to this guy, and it looked like I was going to end up holding him on his feet... By [the fourth round], if there was anybody in the Garden who didn't know what was happening, he must have been dead drunk.

[20]The thrown fight and a payment of $20,000 to the Mafia got LaMotta his title bout against World Middleweight Champion Marcel Cerdan.

[21] LaMotta won the World Middleweight title on June 16, 1949, in Detroit, Michigan, defeating Frenchman Marcel Cerdan.

[24] LaMotta made his first title defense against Tiberio Mitri on July 7, 1950, at Madison Square Garden, New York.

In the last few rounds, LaMotta began to take a horrible beating and was soon unable to defend himself from Robinson's powerful blows.

[27] Following that fight, LaMotta took time off; when he returned, in early 1954,[28] he knocked out his first two opponents, Johnny Pretzie (TKO 4) and Al McCoy (KO 1), but a controversial split decision loss to Billy Kilgore on April 14, 1954, convinced him to retire.

[citation needed] In 1960 LaMotta was called to testify before a U.S. Senate sub-committee that was looking into underworld influence on boxing.

[20] LaMotta appeared in more than 15 films, including The Hustler (1961) with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, in which he had a role as a bartender.

The LaMotta team played in Sterling Oval which was located between 165th and 164th Streets between Clay and Teller Avenue.

[citation needed] In 1965, LaMotta appeared as "Big Jule" in the New York City Center production of Guys and Dolls for 15 performances alongside Alan King and Jerry Orbach.

[10] In the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, his sixth bout with Robinson, LaMotta suffered numerous severe blows to the head.

The autobiographical details include his life as a young teenage criminal; his reformation in prison; his extensive career as an amateur and professional boxer; his struggles with organized crime who kept a boxing title out of reach; and his jealous obsession with his wife, Vikki.

The first edition is: Hollywood executives approached LaMotta with the idea of a movie about his life, based on his 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story.

The film, Raging Bull, released in 1980, was a box-office bomb, but eventually received overwhelming critical acclaim for both director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, who gained about 60 pounds during the shooting of the film to play the older LaMotta in later scenes.

De Niro lived in Paris for three months, eating at the finest restaurants in order to gain sufficient weight to portray LaMotta after retirement.

LaMotta had a troubled personal life, including an early spell in a reformatory, and was married seven times.

He admitted to having raped a woman, having beaten his wives and coming close to beating a man to death during a robbery.

[37] John later became an actor, and one of his roles was as "Duke", who ran the bar of that name featured in the television comedy series Frasier.

[39] LaMotta remained active on the speaking and autograph circuit, and published several books about his career, his life, and his fights with Robinson.

The production focused on LaMotta's boxing career, and was criticized by The New York Times as poorly executed and a "bizarre debacle".

The film features an appearance by Mike Tyson among other notable athletes, actors and Jake's family and friends.

It also features Joe Mantegna, Tom Sizemore, Penelope Ann Miller, Natasha Henstridge, Joey Diaz and Ray Wise.