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There is pretty good reasoning behind his throwing it. Obviously, still very wrong.
But he fought in an era of boxing that if werent tied in with the mob you werent getting a shot at the title.
When LaMotta was coming up the ranks he was offered to fight under the Mob but rejected it and continued to do so throughout much of his early career. Because he wouldnt get tied in with the mob, he was denied a title shot.
Later in his career, he finally caved when he was offered this deal. The deal was to throw the Billy Fox (who had an amazing KNOCKOUT record, scoring 36 KO's in his first 36 bouts. He had even more then that but many of his early bouts were thought to be false. But he showed a clear lack of talent, getting knocked out in the first round by a no name fighter and haveing a losing record from that point on) and he would later get his title shot.
So he threw the fight, got his title shot 2 years later in 49, and won the fight when Cerdan refused to come out for the 10th round.
With all that said, can really blame LaMotta for throwing the fight? It was his lively hood, and he had to get a shot at the title somehow right?
The throwing of the Fox fight was suspected by writers immediatly after the fact, but wasn't until he testified several years later i believe. And after that, he was one of the most hated figures in professional boxing!
But he fought in an era of boxing that if werent tied in with the mob you werent getting a shot at the title.
When LaMotta was coming up the ranks he was offered to fight under the Mob but rejected it and continued to do so throughout much of his early career. Because he wouldnt get tied in with the mob, he was denied a title shot.
Later in his career, he finally caved when he was offered this deal. The deal was to throw the Billy Fox (who had an amazing KNOCKOUT record, scoring 36 KO's in his first 36 bouts. He had even more then that but many of his early bouts were thought to be false. But he showed a clear lack of talent, getting knocked out in the first round by a no name fighter and haveing a losing record from that point on) and he would later get his title shot.
So he threw the fight, got his title shot 2 years later in 49, and won the fight when Cerdan refused to come out for the 10th round.
With all that said, can really blame LaMotta for throwing the fight? It was his lively hood, and he had to get a shot at the title somehow right?
The throwing of the Fox fight was suspected by writers immediatly after the fact, but wasn't until he testified several years later i believe. And after that, he was one of the most hated figures in professional boxing!
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