How ‘Bronx Bull’ Boxer Jake LaMotta Got His Nickname and Inspired Raging Bull

In the decades after his boxing career came to an end, Jake LaMotta — who has died at the age of 95 — was perhaps best known for having inspired the 1980 film Raging Bull. The acclaimed movie “canonized and cauterized” the boxer, in the words of TIME’s film critic Richard Corliss, as filmmaker Martin Scorsese translated onto the big screen the “nostalgic nightmare” of LaMotta’s 1970 memoir. The two also shared a title, a reference to the nickname that followed the boxer throughout his career. In the book, LaMotta wrote that he had earned the moniker for his style in the ring: “charge out of the corner, punch, punch, punch, never give up, take all the punishment the other guy could hand out but stay in there, slug and slug and slug.” And in 1951, when LaMotta lost his middleweight championship title to Sugar Ray Robinson, TIME explained how the name had gained extra meaning as the fighter’s career progressed: “Jake LaMotta, middleweight champion of the world up to last week, is a stolid, truculent fighter with a good punch and a Gibraltar jaw. In 95 fights, deep-chested Jake has never been knocked off his feet. For this combination of qualities, Jake is nicknamed ‘The Bronx Bull.'” His strategy in that fight, the story noted, was the same one he used in every fight: “wade in and throw punches.” Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter A...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized onetime remembrance Sports Source Type: news