Jake La Motta and Billy Fox
On November 14, 1947 Jake La Motta fought Billy Fox in New York. Prior to the fight, as La Motta admitted years later in testimony before the Kefauver committee, an arrangement was made in which La Motta would receive $20,000 and a title fight if he lost the fight with Fox. He allowed Fox to win by knockout, taking a dive in the fourth round. The fix was arranged by Jake’s brother Joey, who served as his manager, and organized crime figures in New York.
Prior to his dive in the fourth round, La Motta tried to make the fight appear to be legitimate, and according to his later testimony was dismayed to find Cox nearly ready to fall after being hit with just a few jabs. By the second round La Motta was laying against the ropes, allowing himself to be hit at will, and afraid to punch back lest his opponent would be injured.
The New York State Athletic Commission immediately suspended La Motta after the fight, and withheld the purses for both fighters pending an investigation. La Motta was not the first fighter to take a dive when fighting Billy Fox, who was managed by known mobster Frank “Blinky” Palermo. Palermo “owned” Fox, as well as several other fighters. An associate of the mob in Philadelphia, Palermo was known to have arranged for Fox to win in several earlier fights.
In return for throwing the fight La Motta was awarded a championship fight, held in Detroit, which he won. For the rest of his career, and well after it was over he was remembered for the thrown fight against Fox.
In 1960 Billy Fox told his story to Sports Illustrated. In the article he referred to several earlier fights when he suspected that the outcome was fixed, based on the behavior of Palermo before and during the fight. In one he mentioned Palermo, Fox’s manager, in the opponent’s corner during the course of a round. In discussing the La Motta fight Fox told the magazine that Palermo swore to him the La Motta did not take a dive and that the fight was completely legitimate. Fox didn’t believe him.
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