Jake never claimed to be an exceptional boxer in the classic sense; he was simply very good at taking whatever anybody had to throw at him and then bludgeoning them to defeat. This approach put him on a steady course for a world title shot but in those days and that part of the world, things were never quite so simple. In November 1947 Jake was “knocked out” by Billy Fox in a fight which was later investigated by commissioners who concluded that Jake had thrown the fight to gain favour with the New York Mafia, who then controlled much of American boxing. The mob then allowed his natural progression to continue unimpeded and less than two years later he entered the ring against the classy French-North African champion, Marcel Cerdan. Jake took the title after his rumbustious tactics caused a dislocation of Cerdan’s shoulder during the contest and he was forced to retire. The ex-champion was well tipped to regain his crown but the rematch never took place, as Marcel was tragically killed in a plane crash.
LaMotta eventually admitted to “taking a dive” against Fox; it was the first and last time that Jake ever went down during a fight in his whole career. In subsequent writings he said that he lost the fight on purpose so the local Mafia could clean up on big betting odds against Fox, and he knew that he would never get an attempt at the world title without their compliance. He added, however, that losing to Fox was not as easy as he’d thought it would be and that at the start of the fight he moved around the ring pawing out a glove now and then, waiting for Billy to hit him with a punch that looked convincingly hard enough to knock him over. But that blow never came and Jake was worried that Billy was going to fall down first from one of his jabs. The resultant dive in the fourth round was not convincing, which led to the result being questioned both officially and unofficially for years afterwards.
Jake fought in the era when the middleweight ranks were ruled supremely and unquestioningly by the person who is still rated by most pugilistic aficionados as the best “pound-for-pound” boxer that has ever graced the roped square – the great “Sugar” Ray Robinson. Jake became the first man to defeat Robinson in a professional ring and disrupt his previously unbeaten string of over eighty fights, when he knocked him down and outpointed him over ten rounds in their second bout. Sugar Ray, however, was a seriously tough character as well as a brilliant boxer, and their subsequent rivalry and alternating quests for revenge took them into a total of six clashes with each other over several years. The other reason for the series was that Jake was one of very few opponents that could stretch Ray to a credible contest which would pull in the crowds. The sixth and final of their battles took place on 14 February 1951 and, considering the outcome, was perhaps unavoidably dubbed the “St Valentine’s Day Massacre”. After a tough struggle early in the fight it became obvious that Robinson was in better physical condition. Jake was always embroiled in some personal entanglement or other which distracted him from concentrating on giving his best in the ring, and Ray eventually took control. His lightning-fast punches thudded home into Jake’s head and body and although Jake endeavoured to press home his forward march behind a prodding lead, he was gradually beaten back into defence. Near the end of the fight, during which both fighters shipped considerable punishment, almost every punch that Sugar Ray threw connected as Jake slowed noticeably. He retreated to the ropes and leaned on them for support as Ray pursued with murderous intent his anxiety to finish the contest, knowing that Jake was still dangerous even when hurt.
It should be remembered that an average professional boxer hits 50 to 75 per cent harder than an untrained “civilian” and Sugar Ray Robinson was light-years above average. He started whipping combinations in from all angles and Jake’s head bobbed around on his shoulders as if it might detach at any moment and land in the time-keeper’s lap. Some of his blood actually did. When Ray switched to the body, the thuds could be heard six rows back from ringside where the audience gasped in horror at the savage beating Jake was being subjected to. But he stood firm and took it all. He knew by now that he could not win and was too weak to even fight back or defend himself, so he hung on to the top rope for support and when Ray took a breather from trying to maim him, taunted through swollen, bloody lips, “Come on, Ray, you ain’t tryin’ hard enough. You can’t put me down.”
Ray restarted his assault with renewed vigour and Jake’s legs twitched and trembled under the onslaught, but he did not go down. His immense strength and stubborn pride kept him on his feet until the referee mercifully, and not before time, ended the contest with Jake simply standing there like a human punchbag with his hands down by his sides. Jake’s seconds led him to his corner but his still-intact pride did not allow him to stay there. He strutted across the canvas and again taunted the champion, “You couldn’t put me down, Ray.”
Ray looked round as if Jake was a madman let loose into society unexpectedly.
Jake’s professional record shows 106 fights with eighty-three wins, only thirty of which were knockouts. It is the record of a long, hard and punishing career. He could never match the classy, athletic boxing skills of the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson, the man who even the great Muhammad Ali based his style upon. Very few, if any, could match him, but one thing is for certain and beyond all doubt – Jake LaMotta, the Raging Bull, was one seriously hard bastard.
ROY SHAW (UK)
British Bare-Knuckle Fighting Champion
Introducing … Roy Shaw
IN COMPLETE CONTRAST to Jamie O’Keefe’s interview with boxer Dave “Boy” Green earlier in this book, in this chapter Jamie interviews Roy Shaw and highlights a completely different mindset and philosophy about what makes tough men tough.
Now in his early seventies, Shaw is undoubtedly one of the UK’s best known unlicensed bare-knuckle fighters with a fight record of eleven fights: nine wins with eight knockouts, and two losses.
Shaw was born to a working-class family in Stepney, London, but later moved to nearby Bethnal Green where he spent much of his early adult life. Ever since an early age Shaw was involved in illegal activities and in 1963 he was sentenced to eighteen years’ imprisonment for one of England’s biggest armoured truck robberies. He allegedly fought his way out of two different holding cells at Her Majesty’s Prison at Maidstone. He assaulted a number of prison guards and routinely stabbed informers, and even slashed the throat of a former best friend due to his strong belief in a code of honour amongst criminals which must not be broken.
Shaw hated the system and claimed it could never beat him. He was consistently moved to different prisons and even spent time at Broadmoor Hospital for Criminally Insane where, according to Shaw, uncontrollable prisoners were deliberately drugged up with the aim of turning them into permanent cabbages. In an attempt to control his temper, Shaw underwent experimental electroconvulsive therapy which, according to his doctor, was a complete failure and only served to make Shaw even more aggressive and unpredictable. His doctor claimed that at first Shaw came across as an intimidating yet soft-spoken gentleman, but when faced with treatment he didn’t want, he became the most powerful and dangerous man he had ever tried to treat.
Once released from prison Shaw started bare-knuckle boxing in 1978, aged forty-two. He gained many infamous victories and his fights with arch-rival Lenny “The Guv’nor” McLean were described as among the bloodiest of the century and drew massive crowds.
For a series of petty crimes Shaw was sent back to prison but escaped and continued his boxing career under the alias “Roy West” until finally recaptured.
After serving the remainder of his prison sentence, Shaw stated that he had retired from both a life of crime and bare-knuckle boxing, and has since become a businessman and bestselling author.
PRIZE FIGHTER
By Jamie O’Keefe
Jamie: Roy, if I were to ask you what you feel makes tough guys tough, what would your answer be?
Roy S: Circumstances on the day, circumstances on their upbringing, circumstances on their way of life. For example, I was bullied and circumstances forced me to deal w
ith that. Then later in life I had the same from authorities and had to deal with that. I often get young kids write to me via my website to ask me how to deal with bullying but it’s not something that I can answer. How can I advise a young kid to go and smash someone’s head in? It’s what I think but I cannot write back to young kids and advise them to use violence so I end up not replying at all. It makes me feel sad for them because I was bullied and know what it’s like but I cannot be put in that situation where I’m advising young kids on what to do. My life was pretty unique due to circumstances and I would not advise anybody to copy me.
Jamie: Can you define at least one attribute that you would attach to a tough guy?
Roy S: That they can fight or are prepared to fight.
Jamie: I believe that anyone can go to a class and learn the physical side of an art and the thinking problem-solving side, like “what to do if X happens”. But I do not feel that you can learn the feelings, attitude, emotions, and values of affective learning, which I believe can only come from life’s experiences, making you what you are, be it tough or soft, bully or victim, etc. What are your views on this?
Roy S: I think if you join in with some kind of group that get involved in fights then you will get the courage to have a go somewhere along the lines but I was a straight kid and wasn’t involved with gangs or other groups of kids. My dad died when I was ten which was a blow for me but it still didn’t make me violent or anything like that. It was only after I was sixteen and became a hard-working lad that circumstances changed things and I started robbing banks and getting in trouble with the police.
Jamie: If I was the most passive person on this planet, afraid of my own shadow, could I be converted into a tough guy, afraid of no one?
Roy S: I think it can work for some people who are not naturally tough. My grandson was only ten when he was getting bullied so I took him down the gym to teach him how to fight. After going for about nine months he could punch the bag fairly hard and could lay someone out of his own size. He has surprised me, but he still didn’t go out because he was frightened of getting bullied. He needed to build up his confidence. It was exactly the same for me. I lacked confidence even though as a kid I was physically capable of knocking people out. One day I just found that I was sticking up for myself against one of the bullies and from then on it all come together and I turned into Roy Shaw the Hard Bastard somewhere along the line. Well, that’s the label that some people attached to me and not one I chose myself.
Jamie: How are we to know when to choose “fight or flight”?
Roy S: The adrenaline rush chooses for you. Every time I got the rush I would fight but some people decide to not fight when it comes. It left me alone for quite a while but recently I was in this club and there was this geezer who had raped a bird. I went over to him and there were these other two lumps with him but I didn’t give a fuck. I psyched myself up and let him know that I knew he was the one that had raped this girl and then knocked him spark out. I don’t give a fuck if there are loads of them, like when I did four of them, when I get that adrenaline rush, nothing is going to stop me. You know how it is, you’ve done the same.
Jamie: Does a martial art black belt or boxing title mean someone is tough? If not, what does it mean?
Roy S: It means that they are tough as a boxer or martial artist and have the capabilities to use their art in a real situation but it doesn’t mean that they automatically will. I’ve never done martial arts and to my knowledge never fought one so cannot really speak on their behalf.
Jamie: Can you put all the tough guys you know of into any sort of category, i.e. they are mostly from the forces, or mostly from broken homes etc.?
Roy S: I suppose the working-class breed the majority of tough guys. You don’t really see royalty or rich kids boxing. The actor Mickey Rourke was someone with money that could look after himself but he was like that before he become rich and famous. When I was in France he asked me to go to America and look after him when he was in his prime as an actor but it was not for me, I didn’t fancy it.
Jamie: Can you take somebody and make him or her tough? If not, what is the nearest you can get them to what you consider as being tough?
Roy S: Well, I’m a good example. When I left school at fifteen I was quiet calm and only six stone one, and had a history of being bullied. I took up boxing and soon realized that I had the gift of being able to punch and the aggression that I never had; all seem to suddenly fall in place. I had a good trainer and that can really help you to develop. Even if a trainer hasn’t got street-fighting experience himself, he can still teach you and get the best from you if he understands and knows what he is talking about.
Jamie: As a young lad I had a pal, who many others and I considered to be the toughest person we had ever known. He was a brilliant street-fighter who was rarely defeated. I met him fifteen years later and he was a shadow of his former self, practically flinching if anyone came near him in a threatening manner. It was like his spirit had been broken. Do you think a tough guy can be made to be or become un-tough?
Roy S: I’ve never known it! People mellow with age and mature but I’ve never seen someone who could have a “row” suddenly not be able to do it? Maybe a personality change is possible but it’s not something I’ve come across. Having a family kind of controls you because you do not want to bring your aggro on their doorstep. I’ve got a mate who was a right rascal in his younger days but now he has got a couple of kids he doesn’t even go out. He just cannot be bothered with the aggro but it doesn’t change the fact that he is still capable; he just can’t be bothered with it all. He has got more important things in his life now.
Jamie: Do you think it is possible to sense that someone is tough just from the way they carry themselves?
Roy S: Yeah, they have an aura about them that you can sense. People like us have got it. It attracts similar sorts of people towards you and that’s how you end up with a group of mates who can all handle themselves but it also attracts the mugs to you that wanna be tough.
Jamie: Is it possible to act tough without really being tough?
Roy S: Not really, you can smell out a fake or plastic gangster a mile off. They don’t kid anyone but themselves. A lot of mugs try it but they get caught out. You can only act tough for so long before someone will end up doing you.
Jamie: How would you deal with a tough guy who is in your face prompting you to kick off with him?
Roy S: I don’t really get it happen to me these days. People seem to be more respectful because I’m not the kind of tear up merchant that I used to be. I’m more passive in my attitude when I go out these days. However, if someone does try it on with me I will choose my reaction more wisely than I used to. I will still do them but I may bide my time to avoid witnesses and getting nicked. I had a situation at the country club last week. As I pulled up and stepped out of the cab there was a tear up going on and suddenly someone shouted “Look out, it’s Roy Shaw,” then the whole thing broke up!
Jamie: Is there a difference between men and women with regards to their toughness, i.e. would you be happy to let women take the place of men on the front-line of pubs and clubs etc.?
Roy S: No, women are not really fighting machines, are they? I don’t even like to see them in organized boxing events. Their bodies are not made up for being punched and that. They have got boobs and have babies. They are not made to fight like men, they are too delicate. Women are to be respected, and not be beaten up or work the doors.
Jamie: What do you feel the role of martial arts, boxing, or other fighting-related arts have in making tough guys tough?
Roy S: It can help give people confidence. I did boxing so I would teach boxing to give someone confidence whereas you do it with the martial arts. I would probably teach martial arts as well had I ever studied it but I haven’t.
Jamie: Do you think that regional accents have any connection to toughness?
Roy S: No, not at all. Some regional accent like th
e East London or Scottish accent can make you sound tough but it means nothing.
Jamie: Are you tough?
Roy S: No, but I can look after myself. A bit like you when you say that you’re not tough but you are capable, well I’m not tough but I can look after myself.
Jamie: Does your current training system or method of training prepare you when confronted with a tough guy?
Roy S: The boxing has made me the person that I am.
Jamie: Is your current training system gearing you up towards toughness in any way?
Roy S: Well, I still do my weights as you know from the training session just now, plus I do my running each morning with my dogs but my knees play up a bit now from all those years of powerlifting, dead-weights and squats.
Jamie: Is there anything else you or anyone else can do to become tougher?
Roy S: If you are a weak kid then you can spend time in the fighting arts training to become tougher. It will happen over a period of time if you persevere.
Jamie: How many tough females can you name?
Roy S: None. I don’t really see females as tough; I see them as lovely human beings. I don’t want to see them in any other way.
Jamie: What do you think attracts people to villains, gangsters and fighters?
Roy S: I don’t think many people have got the arsehole to do a bank robbery or things like that or do the time in prison that goes with it when you get caught. Not many could go through Broadmoor like Frankie Fraser. People wish they could do the same but they can’t.
Jamie: Do villains exist today as they did back in the 1960s?
Roy S: No, the “Old School” could have a row, stand up for themselves, had respect for each other, loyalty, all the things that make a good man. People are robbing each other in business and nicking cars and think they are gangsters. They are just paperback gangsters, wannabes. You cannot be the real McCoy without doing your apprenticeship. Knowing people that are gangsters does not make you one. You are what you are, no matter what you tell people. Bit like that mug gangster that lived across the road to your old mum in Canning Town. He couldn’t kid me, your mother or Frankie Fraser because we were all from the Old School.
The Mammoth Book of Hard Bastards (Mammoth Books) Page 45