Jake LaMotta
Whenever I did have a lot of money, I got in trouble.
I fought in Detroit 23 times.
Counting amateur fights, I have over a thousand bouts.
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.
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.
You don't compare a guy with 30 or 40 fights with a guy who had 200 fights and fought over 25 years.
If I got a beating for something, I usually deserved it.
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.
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.
Everybody has a temper, but mine was set on a hair trigger.
I was a no-good bastard.
Punches never bothered me that much.
I lost a lot of money, lost my wife and kids.
Boxing never hurt me at all.
People get in auto accidents, they're paralyzed for life. I got hurt worse getting married.
I was a sick animal. I was jealous. I was vicious.
Cooking's my hobby.
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.
The three toughest fighters I ever fought were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Robinson. I fought Sugar so many times, I'm surprised I'm not diabetic.Collection: Funny
There's no way I'm goin' down. I don't go down for nobody.Collection: Way
You can't go into the ring and be a nice guy. I would go a month, two months, without having sex. It worked for me because it made me a vicious animal. You can't fight if you have any compassion or anything like that.Collection: Sex
In my whole career, I've never really gotten hurt. The only ones that really hurt me were my wives.Collection: Hurt
I was so good at boxing because I worked hard. I worked harder than anybody. When other boxers used to box in the gym, three or four rounds, I used to box 10-20 rounds.Collection: Boxing
I fought Sugar [Ray Robinson] so many times that I'm lucky I didn't get diabetesCollection: Boxing
You punch like you take it up the ass.Collection: Raging Bull
On the way here this guy steps up to us and says, 'Would you like to join Jehovah's Witnesses?' and Rocky (Graziano) says 'I didn't see nuttin!'Collection: Boxing
Besides Bob Satterfield, the only ones who ever hurt me were my ex-wives.Collection: Hurt
I read the Romans had bread and circuses. We had home relief and boxing.Collection: Home
I fought Sugar Ray so often, I almost got diabetes.Collection: Rays