Jake LaMotta, who compiled a record of 82 wins, 19 losses and 4 draws with 30 wins by way of knockout, was the first man to beat Sugar Ray Robinson, when he dropped Robinson in the first round and outpointed him over the course of ten rounds during the second fight of their legendary six bout rivalry. LaMotta lost five of those. In 1948, he was knocked out in four rounds by Billy Fox. The fight with Fox would come back to haunt him later in life.

LaMotta won the world title in 1949 in Detroit against Frenchman Marcel Cerdan, who was the world champion. Cerdan, called by many boxing critics the greatest champion ever from France, dislocated his arm in the first round and gave up before the start of the tenth, the official scoring being LaMotta winner by a knockout in ten because the bell had already rung to begin that round when Cerdan announced he was quitting. A rematch was signed, but while Cerdan was flying back to the United States to fight the rematch, his Air France Lockheed Constellation crashed at the Azores, killing everyone on board. LaMotta met two challengers (Tiberio Mitri and Laurent Dauthuille) and beat them, and then he was challenged by Robinson on their rivalry's sixth fight. Held on February 14, 1951, the fight became known as boxing's version of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Robinson won by a technical knockout in the thirteenth round, when the fight was stopped with LaMotta lying on the ropes. In 1953, LaMotta shocked the sports world when he was called to testify by the FBI in the hearings they were holding against some mafia groups. LaMotta said during the hearing, perhaps not realizing that he was also harming his own image, that he had thrown the fight in 1948 with Billy Fox in exchange for a shot against world champion Cerdan. Throwing the fight affected his reputation greatly, but he still believes that it was worthwhile.

After retirement, he bought a few bars and became a stage actor and stand up comedian. He also appeared in over 15 motion pictures, including The Hustler, with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason where he played the bartender.

Nearing 1980, Hollywood executives approached LaMotta with the idea of a movie about his life. The film, Raging Bull, was a huge success both for director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, who gained about 60 pounds (27 kg) during the shooting of the film, to play the older, corpulent, broken-down LaMotta in the scenes of LaMotta's later life.

The movie depicted a violent and problematic LaMotta who once even went as far as beating his own brother, manager Joey LaMotta, accusing him and his wife (Vicky LaMotta, who once posed for Playboy magazine) of having an affair.

In a 2004 interview, LaMotta recalled that after attending the premiere of Raging Bull with his by then ex-wife (the two had divorced in bitterness in the 1950s), he told her he could not believe he was that bad. Vicky replied: "That's right; you were worse!"

In 1998, his son Joseph LaMotta died in the Swissair flight that crashed in Nova Scotia, Canada.

LaMotta has been active on the speaking and autograph circuit and has published several books about his career and his fights with Robinson.

He is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.