LaMotta took a beating in the later rounds of the fight, but he refused to go down until the referee stepped in to save him from further punishment.

It was a reference to the infamous 1929 mob killings of the same name. Robinson stopped a bloodied LaMotta in the 13th round of their scheduled 15-round bout in a fight that became known as the second St. But it was the movie that unflinchingly portrayed him as a violent and abusive husband - he was married six times - that is remembered even more. The Bronx Bull, as he was known in his fighting days, compiled an 83-19-4 record with 30 knockouts, in a career that began in 1941 and ended in 1954. “Rest in Peace, Champ,” De Niro said in a statement. De Niro won an Academy Award playing the troubled boxer - violent both inside and outside the ring - in a Martin Scorsese film that several critics have ranked as among the top 100 movies ever made.

LaMotta gained fame with a new generation because of the 1980 film based loosely on his autobiography from a decade earlier.

He was a fan favorite who fought with fury, though he admitted to once intentionally losing a fight to get in line for a title bout. LaMotta handed Sugar Ray Robinson his first defeat and reigned for nearly two years as middleweight champion during a time boxing was one of America’s biggest sports.

The former middleweight champion died Tuesday at a Miami-area hospital from complications of pneumonia, according to his longtime fiancee, Denise Baker. Jake LaMotta, an iron-fisted battler who brawled his way to a middleweight title and was later memorialized by Robert De Niro in the film “Raging Bull,” has died.

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