The life of Bronx-based Jake LaMotta during his professional middleweight boxing career from 1941 to the mid-1950s, and his immediate post-boxing life is dramatized. Managed for most of his boxing career by his brother Joey LaMotta, Jake has the goal not only of getting the title fight at almost any cost - the one thing he unwilling to do to demonstrate that he is the best and in his "my way or the high way" mentality is to be knocked out, even if it is for a longer term benefit - but also to have the most fame possible, which means the improbable fantasy of becoming a heavyweight. While not managed by them, much of his career is affected by his and Joey's mafia connections. Despite his boxing prowess, Jake, to reach his own personal goals, has to overcome his disagreements with what the mafia wants and his own brutish behavior, which spills over into his personal life. That personal life shown largely is during the time of what is his second marriage, to Vickie LaMotta, a girl he spotted in the neighborhood. Their relationship is punctuated by jealousy and paranoia on Jake's side, he who becomes to believe that Vickie is sleeping with every man to who she pays any attention, those feelings by Jake which leads to emotional and physical abuse.—Huggo