Jake LaMotta, boxing’s legendary ‘Raging Bull’, dies at 95
Former middleweight boxing champion whose life in and out of the ring was depicted in the film ‘Raging Bull’ has died, his fiancée says
Jake LaMotta, the former middleweight boxing champion whose life in and out of the ring was depicted in the film “Raging Bull,” for which Robert De Niro won an Academy Award, has died, his fiancée said on Wednesday. He was 95.
LaMotta died on Tuesday at a Miami-area hospital from complications of pneumonia, according to fiancée Denise Baker.
“Rest in Peace, Champ,” De Niro said in a statement.
The Bronx Bull, as he was known in his fighting days, compiled an 83-19-4 record with 30 knockouts, in a career that began in 1941 and ended in 1954.
LaMotta fought the great Sugar Ray Robinson six times, handing Robinson the first defeat of his career and losing the middleweight title to him in a storied match.
In the fight before he lost the title, LaMotta saved the championship in movie-script fashion against Laurent Dauthuille. Trailing badly on all three scorecards, LaMotta knocked out the challenger with 13 seconds left in the fight.