- LaMotta passed away in a nursing home due to complications from pneumonia on Tuesday aged 95
- The boxing legend’s life story was told in the movie Raging Bull where he was played by Robert De Niro
- Fighter competed in 106 pro fights and won a world middleweight championship, after he was rejected from serving in the military
- He’s most famously remembered for his six-fight rivalry with Sugar Ray Robinson
Boxing legend Jake LaMotta who was played Robert De Niro in the movie Raging Bull has died.
LaMotta passed away in a nursing home due to complications from pneumonia on Tuesday aged 95.
His wife Denise told TMZ: ‘I just want people to know, he was a great, sweet, sensitive, strong, compelling man with a great sense of humor, with eyes that danced.’
Boxing legend Jake LaMotta who was played Robert De Niro in the movie Raging Bull has died
Jake La Motta during his 1951 fight with Bob Murphy. The latter won by a technical knock out when La Motta was ruled unable to come out for the 8th round
Then World Middleweight Champ Jake La Motta at his training camp at Kiamehsa Lake in New York
The Bronx fighter had an incredible career, spanning 106 pro fights and winning a world middleweight championship, after he was rejected from serving in the military due to a medical issue in 1941.
The Bronx native earned the nickname ‘The Raging Bull’ for his rough style in the ring as a middleweight fighter.
But he’s most famously remembered for his six-fight rivalry with Sugar Ray Robinson although he only won one round. His brother Joey LaMotta was his manager.
LaMotta retired from boxing in 1949 and published his memoir, Raging Bull: My Story in 1970.
It was later turned into a movie in 1980, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring De Niro as the troubled boxing champion.
The movie captured LaMotta’s life, which was just as turbulent outside as inside the ring.
Motta leaves behind four daughters and his seventh wife, Denise Baker. His two sons, Jake LaMotta, Jr. and younger son, Joseph, both died in 1998 of cancer and a plane crash respectively.
Jake LaMotta married his seventh wife, Denise Baker, in January 2013 (pictured together at SiriusXM Studios on September 6, 2013 in New York City)
His memoir inspired the movie Raging Bull, which saw De Niro star as the troubled boxing champion in 1980 (pictured together on the 25th anniversary of Raging Bull)