Organized crime controlled much of boxing at the time, so to get a title fight, LaMotta agreed to take a dive against his next opponent, Billy Fox, and paid the mob $20,000. LaMotta had compiled a 64-11-3 record by late 1947 but hadn't gotten a shot at the championship. Robinson would defeat LaMotta twice in 1945, including a 12-round split decision. Three weeks later, Robinson would take the rematch, winning a unanimous decision despite being floored in the seventh round. 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. LaMotta went?83-19-4 with 30 knockouts in a career that lasted from 1941 to 1954.?He fought multiple times in a month several times, earning a reputation as a brawler and the nickname 'Bronx Bull.'

Jake lamotta autobiography