Jake LaMotte the man who inspired the film 'Raging Bull' is no more
Boxing is a macho sport and it dominates the world of sport. It is also as old as history, maybe the oldest sport known to man and boxers have for centuries fired the imagination of the artist and the painter. America has been home to boxing legends for the last 200 years where men like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammed Ali, Joe Louis, and Jake LaMotte became legends.
Jake was perhaps a shade below some of the greats of boxing but a film on his life starring the Hollywood actor Robert DeNiro catapulted him into the limelight. Yes, he was a great boxer, but a lot of credit must go to Robert De Nitro who portrayed the pugilist in the movie; Raging Bull;.
De Niro won an Oscar for the best actor for his portrayal of the boxer. The World Middleweight champ died in bed in a hospital in Miami. It was a sad end to a great boxing career, which saw him fight 106 bouts with 30 clean knockouts. He was a man who could take a lot of punishment in the ring and never gave up. His bouts with Sugar Ray Robinson, another boxing great are now legendary. They met 6 times and LaMotte won only once but he always fought with tenacity and never gave up. He first defeated sugar Ray in 1942 to bag the world title. By all accounts, he was the most celebrated boxer of his era.
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