I fought Sugar Ray Robinson so many times, it's a wonder I don't have diabetes.
Jake LaMotta
There was only one thing I wanted out of life. That was to be the champ.
I been in jail twice. The first time was reform school: they got me for carrying burglar's tools, something like that. The morals charge was a frame-up.
Everybody has a temper, but mine was set on a hair trigger.
My nose was broken six times, my hands six times, a few fractured ribs. Fifty stitches over my eyes. But the only place I got hurt was out of the ring.
Subconsciously - I didn't know it then, I realize it today when I know a little bit more about the mind and the brain - I fought like I didn't deserve to live.
The three toughest fighters I fought were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sugar Ray Robinson.
I fought in Detroit 23 times.
I fought from the time I was eight years old, sometimes three, four fights a night. We did it to eat, and we did it because we were just tough kids.
My greatest defense was my offense. Very few guys did that.
I never went to church. The priests couldn't scare me with all that crap about hell, but somehow I knew, inside of me somehow, I knew that I'd pay for it.
Counting amateur fights, I have over a thousand bouts.
Big money causes me too much trouble with my ex-wives and the government. All I want is to keep busy and to be comfortable.
Ask most guys what their ambition is, and they'll say they want to get rich. But when they get rich, they discover it's not what they wanted at all. I don't want to be rich.
Fear is unnecessary.
I was tough at a very young age, where I was just fighting all the time.
The world knows me as the Raging Bull.
When I was a kid, I wanted to fight Joe Louis. But I think if I had seen Mike Tyson at that time, I would have said, 'Nah, I don't want to fight him.' He's deadly. He could have been one of the great heavyweight champions. But he goofed.
Most people aren't good or bad. They're naive.
I had such a crazy life. How I got away with it, I don't know.
All my life I made a living out of hurting people. Now, I make a living out of making people laugh.
Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest, pound-for-pound, ever. He fought most of his career with just one loss, and that was to me. He had 131 fights with one loss.
I wasn't born to be a fighter. My hands are too small, and look at these short arms.
I don't know how to back up.
You know what's the greatest sin in the world? Hurting your fellow man.
Punches never bothered me that much.
God's been pretty good to me. He made me duck all those punches that were supposed to land.
I hypnotized myself so in my subconscious, I believed I couldn't get hurt. And I don't mean 'believe' - I mean believe believe believe.
I've learned a lot about life besides how to take a punch. And I've taken quite a few in and out of the ring.
When you're No. 1 contender for five years, and you know who's controlling things, you'll do something you're not proud of.
When you break bones, they heal up and come back even stronger.
I was a sick animal. I was jealous. I was vicious.
Besides being a slum kid with no great education in anything except how to fight and stay alive and steal, I also had this temper.
I always needed money when I was younger. I had different ways of getting it. A lot of the ways I don't like to talk about.
I used to psyche myself out. Only, back then, we didn't know the word 'psyche.'
You can't go into the ring and be a nice guy.
People get in auto accidents, they're paralyzed for life. I got hurt worse getting married.
I ask for personal appearance fees because I've earned them. I deserve them. My presence at events is what they need, so they ought to pay for it.
Most of the time, husbands and wives argue about stupid, foolish things. If it doesn't mean that much to you, give in to your wife.
Lot of guys can take punches. The idea is not to take unnecessary punishment.
I'm no angel.
I purposely lost a fight to Billy Fox because they promised me that I would get a shot to fight for the title if I did.
Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.
I play solitaire and wait for something to happen.
I forget stuff. Guess I took a few too many punches.
There's a lot of people all over the world that talked about me.
You can't fight if you have any compassion or anything like that.
I fought Sugar Ray six times. Pound for pound the greatest fighter who ever lived.
Forward, always moving forward, from the time I can remember - a kid. I was short, and the big guys would take advantage; I had to turn myself into a body puncher. By that time I was in reform school, they'd have a boxing match every week; they'd bring guys in from outside to fight me.
Something's bound to happen to you in a tough fight: cut eye, broken nose or broken hand or something like that. So you could make excuses out of anything, you know, but you got to keep on going if you're a champ or you're a contender.
