Titles: Middleweight champion 1949-1951

Record: 83-19-4 (30 K.O's)

Born: July 10, 1921 in The Bronx, New York City (USA)

Years active: 1941-1954

Nickname:  "The Bronx Bull" 


If Roberto Duran had the "hands of stone" then LaMotta had the head of a anvil. 
To say LaMotta had a good chin is not good enough since every inch of his head 
was hit with punches....usually in just one fight. It can be argued that LaMotta 
had the best chin and ability to absorb punishment of all-time right along with 
Battling Nelson. To say that all LaMotta could do was take punishment is a terrible 
injustice because he could box. It is just that his tremendous heart and ability 
to absorb punishment was so good it stood out above from his other formidable 
talents. To beat Sugar Ray Robinson you have to more than a slugger, you have to 
know how to box. LaMotta  was the first person to ever defeat the legendary Ray 
Robinson and did it at a time when Robinson was near his prime and thought to be 
nearly invincible. Robinson would fight 91 more times before he would lose again. 
It is that win over Robinson that LaMotta will be most remembered for, but there 
is a lot more to the legendary Bronx Bull than just this win. Still that feat 
was so impressive that few remember that he lost to Robinson 5 times in their 6
meetings. Still LaMotta beat the best of his times with his almost maniacal will 
to win. At 5 foot 8 inches tall LaMotta was short middleweight. His offense was 
good and based on a swarming style, LaMotta always made sure to put in the body
work to wear his opponents down. LaMotta did not prefer either hand and was known 
as a two fisted fighter. Not a terribly hard hitter LaMotta could unleash good 
left hooks to the body and head, it was his volume more so than his accuracy that 
made him a offensive force. LaMotta would also often play possum in order to lure 
his opponents into traps along the ropes. Born on the on the Lower East Side of 
New York City  LaMotta's teenage delinquency landed him in reform school where he 
like many others of his generation found his salvation in the form of boxing. As 
a teen LaMotta fought as a amateur for two years before going into the pro game
at the age of 18. In less than 2 years LaMotta had already made a name for himself 
and was rated in the top 10. In his first year LaMotta had 20 fights, losing 3 
times.  While he did loose his share of fights in those early years it was always 
against much more experienced fighters and he never looked outclassed in the 
closely contested bouts. 1942 was his breakout year as it was the first time he 
meet a true world class fighter in Sugar Ray Robinson. In that fight LaMotta would 
loose a 10 round decision but he did make a impression with his determination and 
constant punching. The next year in 1943 LaMotta made his claim to greatness when 
he defeated Ray Robinson in 14 grueling rounds. LaMotta was superbly fit for the
fight and came out from the opening bell throwing punches, Robinson could never 
establish a rhythm or counter. In the 8th round LaMotta knocked Robinson down and 
between the ropes onto the ring apron showing his superior strength. It was still 
a close fight and the referee awarded the fight to LaMotta 5 rounds to 4 with one 
even. Just 3 weeks after the victory the two men would meet in the ring again. The 
third fight with Robinson was perhaps the best as LaMotta had Robinson down in the 
7th round for the count of 8. Robinson recovered and took the final 3 rounds to 
win the fight. What people remember less is that LaMotta during a seven month 
span in that same year faced legendary tough guy Fritzie Zivic four times winning 
3 of those bouts. Still in search of the elusive title shot in 1945 LaMotta agreed 
to fight Robinson two more times in this year coming out the loser in both bouts. 
It was during this time that LaMotta became infamous for taking a dive against 
Billy Fox in order to get a title shot. To this day LaMotta says he would do it 
over again since he knew there was no other way he would get a shot at the title 
which was owned by the mob. Having taken the dive for the Mafia, LaMotta now 
finally got his deserved title shot after 9 years as a pro. It came against the 
legendary Marcel Cerdan and it was a never a closely contested match. The fight 
was held in Detroit before over 22,000 thousand people and was a good but not 
thrilling contest as Cerdan injured his left shoulder in the first round. During 
a clinch LaMotta wrestled Cerdan to the canvas and Cerdan came away with a injured 
shoulder. The rest of the fight saw a advancing LaMotta control the action while 
Cerdan did little more than defend himself while looking for a occasional counter 
punch. Finally in the 10th after the ringside doctor took a look at him Cerdan 
could not tolerate the intense pain anymore and stayed on his stool at the start 
of that round giving up his title. LaMotta successfully defended his crown with 
the mandatory easy fight by outpointing Italian Tibero Mitri before taking on the 
challenge of capable Frenchman Laurent Dauthille. Dauthille had defeated LaMotta 
in a previous fight but the title was not on the line, this time it would be. 
In the second fight LaMotta was hopelessly behind on points and miraculously 
knocked Dauthille out in the exciting 15th round. During entire fight LaMotta was 
a step behind the Frenchman and being countered at every turn, going into the 
late rounds it was evident that Dauthille was beginning to tire. The 12th round 
was the turning point as Dauthille walked into a counterpunch after LaMotta faked
being hurt and leaned against the ropes. Still it looked as if Dauthille was going 
to take the crown when LaMotta landed a beautiful right hand in the last round 
that dropped the challenger and he could not raise himself off the canvas. If 
Dauthille would have only stayed on his feet for 13 more seconds he would have 
won the title. To this day it has to be rated as one of the most incredible come
from behind K.O's in history along with Julio Cesar Chavez's 12th round TKO of 
Meldrick Taylor. The luck would run out for LaMotta however when Sugar Ray Robinson 
challenged for the title next. In what would become known as the St. Valentine days 
massacre Robinson pounded LaMotta from ring post to ring post until the referee 
mercifully ended the fight in the 13th round while LaMotta was still on his feet. 
It was a frightful beating which few would ever be able to recover from. The first 
3 rounds were fairly even before Robinson's speed took over, LaMotta had no answer 
for it. LaMotta fought for 3 more years with moderate success but never challenged 
for a title again. LaMotta moved up to light heavyweight for the last 3 years tired 
of making weight at his advanced age. His best wins came against Norman Hayes and 
Bob Murphy in those late years. Of course LaMotta will most be remembered for the 
movie which was made of his life called Raging Bull. Based on the book he wrote 
about his life in and out of the ring. It is a must have for every boxing fan. It 
is said to be the best boxing movie ever made and has made many critical lists as 
one of the 50 best movies ever made. In retirement LaMotta had many hobbies one of 
which was stand up comedy. LaMotta boasted that "I fought Sugar Ray Robinson so 
many times I got diabetes." 

1941

3  Mar    Charley Mackley     New York,NY         W 4
14 Mar    Tony Gillo          Bridgeport,CT       W 6
1  Apr    Johnny Morris       White Plains,NY     KO 4
8  Apr    Joe Frederick       White Plains,NY     KO 1
15 Apr    Stanley Goicz       White Plains,NY     W 4
24 Apr    Lorne McCarthy      White Plains,NY     W 4
26 Apr    Monroe Crewe        Brooklyn,NY         W 4
20 May    Johnny Cihlar       Brooklyn,NY         W 4
27 May    Johnny Morris       New York,NY         W 4
9  Jun    Lorenzo Strickland  Woodhaven,NY        W 4
16 Jun    Lorenzo Strickland  New York,NY         W 6
23 Jun    Johnny Morris       New York,NY         KO 3
15 Jul    Joe Baynes          Long Island City,NY W 6
5  Aug    Joe Shikula         Long Island City,NY D 6
11 Aug    Cliff Koerkle       New York,NY         W 6
24 Sep    Jimmy Reeves        Cleveland,OH        L 10
07 Oct    Lorenzo Strickland  White Plains,NY     W 8
20 Oct    Jimmy Reeves        Cleveland,OH        L 10
14 Nov    Jimmy Casa          New York,NY         W 6
22 Dec    Nate Bolden         Chicago,IL          L 10

1942

27 Jan    Frankie Jamison     New York,NY         W 8
3  Mar    Frankie Jamison     New York,NY         W 8
18 Mar    Lorenzo Strickland  New York,NY         W 10
7  Apr    Lou Schwartz        New York,NY         KO 9
21 Apr    Buddy O'Dell        New York,NY         W 10
12 May    Jose Basora         New York,NY         D 10
2  Jun    Vic Dellicurt       New York,NY         W 10
16 Jun    Jose Basora         New York,NY         L 10
28 Jul    Lorenzo Strickland  New York,NY         W 8
28 Aug    Jimmy Edgar         New York,NY         W 10
8  Sep    Vic Dellicurt       New York,NY         W 10
2  Oct    Ray Robinson        New York,NY         L 10
20 Oct    Bill McDowell       New York,NY         KO 5
6  Nov    Henry Chmielews     Boston              W 10

1943

2  Jan    Jimmy Edgar         Detroit,MI          W 10
15 Jan    Jackie Wilson       New York,NY         W 10
22 Jan    Charles Hayes       Detroit,MI          KO 6
5  Feb    Ray Robinson        Detroit,MI          W 10
26 Feb    Ray Robinson        Detroit,MI          L 10
19 Mar    Jimmy Reeves        Detroit,MI          KO 6
30 Mar    Ossie Harris        Pittsburgh,PA       W 10
12 May    Tony Ferrara        Cincinnati,OH       KO 6
10 Jun    Fritzie Zivic       Pittsburgh,PA       W 10
12 Jul    Fritzie Zivic       Pittsburgh,PA       L 10
17 Sep    Jose Basora         detroit,MI          W 10
11 Oct    Johnny Walker       Philadelphia,PA     KO 2
12 Nov    Fritzie Zivic       New York,NY         W 10

1944

14 Jan    Fritzie Zivic       Detroit,MI          W 10
28 Jan    Ozzie Harris        Detroit,MI          W 10
25 Feb    Ozzie Harris        Detroit,MI          W 10
17 Mar    Coley Welch         Boston              W 10
31 Mar    Louis Woods         Chicago,IL          W 10
21 Apr    Lloyd Marshall      Cleveland,OH        L 10
29 Sep    George Kochan       Detroit,MI          W 10
3  Nov    George Kochan       Detroit,MI          KO 9

1945

23 Feb    Ray Robinson        New York,NY         L 10
19 Mar    Lou Schwartz        Norfolk,VA          KO 1
28 Mar    George Costner      Chicago,IL          KO 6
19 Apr    Vic Dellicurt       New York,NY         W 10
27 Apr    Bert Lytell         Boston              W 10
6  Jul    Tommy Bell          New York,NY         W 10
10 Aug    Jose Basora         New York,NY         KO 9
17 Sep    George Kochan       New York,NY         KO 9
26 Sep    Ray Robinson        Chicago,IL          L 12
13 Nov    Coolidge Miller     New York,NY         KO 3 
23 Nov    Walter Woods        Boston              KO 8
7  Dec    Charley Parham      Chicago,IL          KO 6

1946

11 Jan    Tommy Bell          New York,NY         W 10
29 Mar    Marcus Lockman      Boston              W 10
24 May    Joe Reddick         Boston              W 10
13 Jun    Jimmy Edgar         Detroit,MI          D 10
7  Aug    Holman Williams     Detroit,MI          W 10
12 Sep    Bob Satterfield     Chicago,IL          KO 7
25 Oct    O'Neill Bell        Detroit,MI          KO 2
6  Dec    Anton Raadik        Chicago,IL          W 10

1947

14 Mar    Tommy Bell          New York,NY         W 10
6  Jun    Tony Janiro         New York,NY         W 10
3  Sep    Cecil Hudson        Chicago,IL          L 10
14 Nov    Billy Fox           New York,NY         TKO by 4

1948

1  Jun    Ken Stribling       Washington,DC       KO 5
7  Sep    Burl Charity        New York,NY         KO 6
1  Oct    Johnny Colan        New York,NY         KO 10
18 Oct    Vern Lester         Brooklyn,NY         W 10
3  Dec    Tommy Yarosz        New York,NY         W 10

1949

21 Feb    Laurent Dauthuille  Montreal,Canada     L 10
25 Mar    Robert Villemain    New York,NY         W 12
18 Apr    O'Neill Bell        Detroit,MI          KO 4
18 May    Joey De John        Syracuse,NY         KO 8
16 Jun    Marcel Cerdan       Detroit,MI          KO10
          (Won World Middleweight Championship)
9  Dec    Robert Villemain    New York,NY         L 10

1950

3  Feb    Dick Wagner         Detroit,MI          KO 9
28 Mar    Chuck Hunter        Cleveland,OH        KO 6
4  May    Joe Taylor          Syracuse,NY         W 10
12 Jul    Tiberio Mitri       New York,NY         W 15
          (Retained World Middleweight Championship)
13 Sep    Laurent Dauthuille  Detroit,MI          KO 15
          (Retained World Middleweight Championship)

1951

14 Feb    Ray Robinson        Chicago,IL          KO by 13
          (Lost World Middleweight Championship)
27 Jun    Bob Murphy          New York,NY         KO by 7

1952

28 Jan    Norman Hayes        Boston              L 10
5  Mar    Eugene Hairston     Detroit,MI          D 10
9  Apr    Norman Hayes        Detroit,MI          W 10
21 May    Eugene Hairston     Detroit,MI          W 10
11 Jun    Bob Murphy          Detroit,MI          W 10
31 Dec    Danny Nardico       Coral Gables,FL     KO by 8

1954

11 Mar    Johnny Pretzie      W. Palm Beach,FL    KO 4
3  Apr    Al McCoy            Charlotte,NC        KO 1
14 Apr    Billy Kilgore       Miami Beach,FL      L 10