Jake LaMotta, boxing's 'Raging Bull,' dies in his 90s

[September 21, 2017]    (Reuters) - Jake LaMotta, the brutish former boxing champion whose life of violence in and out of the ring was portrayed in the movie "Raging Bull," died on Tuesday, according to one of his daughters.

Former middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta poses in New York October 28, 2009. LaMotta learned to fight with an ice pick in his hand in a Bronx schoolyard, battering all the way in later life to a world middleweight title in an era of 15-round fights. REUTERS/Teddy Blackburn/File Photo

LaMotta, who admitted intentionally losing a fight at the behest of mobsters, was in his 90s, listing his birthday as July 10, 1922, while other sources had the year as 1921. His daughter Christi LaMotta announced the death on her personal Facebook page on Tuesday, as did other relatives, but did not disclose the cause of death. TMZ reported that LaMotta died in a nursing home after suffering pneumonia.

(This version of the story repeats correction that originally ran at 1522 GMT and which was accidentally deleted in some formats. It Corrects timing of his daughter's announcement of death to Tuesday, not Wednesday, in paragraph 2)

(Writing and reporting by Bill Trott; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Diane Craft and Matthew Lewis)

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