EARLY! "Raging Bull" Jake LaMotta Hand Signed 8X10 B&W Photo Autograph World COA

Description

Up for auction an
EARLY! The "Raging Bull" Jake LaMotta Hand Signed 8X10 B&W Photo . There is a soft crease on the right side of the photo not affecting the signature.
This item is certified authentic by
Autograph World
and comes with their Letter of Authenticity.
ES-7959E
Giacobbe
"
Jake
"
LaMotta
(July 10, 1922 – September 19, 2017) was an American
professional boxer
, world
middleweight
champion, and
stand-up comedian
. Nicknamed "
The Bronx Bull
" or "
Raging Bull
", LaMotta was a rough fighter who was not a particularly big puncher, but he would subject his opponents to vicious beatings in the ring. With use of constant stalking, brawling and inside fighting, he developed the reputation for being a "bully"; he was what is often referred to today as a
swarmer
and a
slugger
. Due to his hard style of fighting, LaMotta often took in as much as he dished out in an era of great middleweights. With a thick skull and jaw muscles, LaMotta was able to absorb incredible amounts of punishment over the course of his career, and is thought to have one of the greatest
chins
in boxing history. LaMotta's six-fight rivalry with
Sugar Ray Robinson
was one of the most notable in the sport. Although each fight was close and LaMotta dropped Robinson to the canvas multiple times, LaMotta won only one of the bouts. LaMotta, who lived a turbulent life in and out of the ring, was portrayed by
Robert De Niro
in the 1980 film
Raging Bull
. He was managed by his brother
Joey LaMotta
. Jake was ranked 52nd on
Ring Magazine
's
List of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years
. The magazine ranked him as one of the 10 greatest
middleweights
of all time. He was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame
in the inaugural class of 1990. LaMotta was born on the
Lower East Side
of New York City on July 10, 1922, to Italian parents. Many sources had reported his year of birth as 1921, but his daughter Christi said in a Facebook post immediately following his death that it was in fact 1922. His mother was born in the United States to Italian immigrants, while his father was an immigrant from
Messina
,
Sicily
, who came with family including his brother Joseph. The family lived briefly in Philadelphia before returning to New York and settling in the
Bronx
.
Jake's father forced the boy to fight other boys in order to entertain neighborhood adults, who threw pocket change into the ring. LaMotta's father collected the money and used it to help pay the rent. One of LaMotta's cousins on his father's side was
Richard LaMotta
, who became an entrepreneur and creator of the
Chipwich
ice cream treat.
LaMotta learned to box while in a
reformatory
in upstate New York, where he'd been sent for attempted robbery. Afterward he fought undefeated in amateur bouts, turning
professional
at age 19 in 1941. During
World War II
, he was rejected for military service; he had had a
mastoid operation
as a child on one of his ears and it affected his hearing. As a
middleweight
in his first fifteen bouts, LaMotta went 14–0–1 (3 KOs) before losing a highly controversial split decision to
Jimmy Reeves
in Reeves' hometown of
Cleveland, Ohio
. Chaos erupted after the decision was announced. Fights broke out around the ring and the crowd continued to boo for 20 minutes. The arena's organist tried (but failed) to calm down the crowd by playing the "
Star Spangled Banner
". One month later, LaMotta and Reeves fought again in the same arena. LaMotta lost a much less controversial decision. A third match between the two took place on March 19, 1943 in
Detroit
,
Michigan
. The first five rounds were close, though Reeves was struggling in the fourth. In the sixth round, LaMotta floored Reeves, who was only down for a second. Once the fight resumed, LaMotta landed a left on Reeves' chin, sending him down face-first. Reeves was blinking his eyes and shaking his head as the referee counted him out.