Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta had a historic boxing rivalry, fighting each other on six separate occasions between 1942 and 1951.
The most famous of their encounters was their sixth and final fight, a world middleweight title match later dubbed The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre due to its brutality, with the champion LaMotta taking tremendous punishment from Robinson in the later rounds.
[6] Both men had very different fighting styles, LaMotta was a classic swarmer, relentlessly pursuing his opponents while constantly throwing barrages of punches to overpower them.
Robinson and LaMotta fought for the first time on October 2, 1942, the fight being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In the eighth round, LaMotta landed a right to the body followed by a left hook to the head which send Robinson falling backwards and through the ropes.
Robinson was badly hurt in the seventh round, being knocked down in his own corner and later admitting that he chose to stay down for the full eight count to recover.
The champion started the fight swinging, and fought effectively in the early rounds, but soon found himself falling behind under Robinson's onslaught of combinations and counter punches.
Despite the pressure, Robinson eventually responded with a barrage of his own punches, battering the now exhausted champion for the remainder of the round.
In the 13th round, Robinson continued to pummel the hurt champion, who amazingly was able to stay standing under the constant punching.
Robinson sent LaMotta against the ropes, and following a brutal series of unanswered punches which seemed to be finally sending the champion down, referee Frank Sikora rushed in to end the fight.
After losing the tile, LaMotta made an attempt to move up to light heavyweight but never for another world title, retiring in 1954.
[13][14] The fights between the two men are an important plot point of Martin Scorsese's 1980 biographical sports film Raging Bull.
The film starred Robert De Niro as LaMotta, and actor Johnny Barnes played Robinson.