5, 1943, LaMotta handed Robinson his first defeat, with a 10-round unanimous decision that included the Bronx Bull knocking Robinson through the ropes in the eighth round. The following year, LaMotta and Robinson fought twice in the same month at Detroit's Olympia Stadium. He bloodied LaMotta and won a 10-round unanimous decision.Īfter the fight, Robinson said, 'I never fought a fighter as strong as he is.'

Robinson, fighting as a welterweight, was 35-0 with 27 knockouts at the time. 2, 1942, at New York's Madison Square Garden, LaMotta faced Robinson for the first of their six ferocious fights. He fought multiple times in a month several times, earning a reputation as a brawler and the nickname 'Bronx Bull.'

LaMotta went 83-19-4 with 30 knockouts in a career that lasted from 1941 to 1954. 'Rest in Peace, Champ,' De Niro said in a statement. Known for his battles with Sugar Ray Robinson and his portrayal by Robert De Niro in 'Raging Bull,' LaMotta held the middleweight title from 1949 to 1951 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. I love him God rest his soul,' Baker told ABC. 'He was a great man, sensitive, and had eyes that danced right up to the end. LaMotta's wife said the family is in the planning stages of his memorial and funeral. LaMotta died because of complications from pneumonia and was in a nursing home in Miami, his wife, Denise Baker, told ABC. Jake LaMotta, former middleweight champion and subject of the 1980 movie 'Raging Bull,' has died at the age of 95.

Lamotta the bronx bull