Following the fight, Vickie, who is now living with Jake, kisses his blackened eye, but when he becomes sexually aroused, he pours a pitcher of ice water down his crotch in order to preserve his energy for the next match with Robinson, which is to take place three weeks later. In 1943, Jake scores a major victory against Sugar Ray Robinson, Robinson's first loss and the beginning of a life-long rivalry between the two boxers. He nudges her onto the bed, but she quickly rises and walks to the bureau, where she looks at a photo of Jake and Joey sparring, a rosary dangling over its frame. After a visit to a miniature golf course, Jake takes her to the apartment he purchased for his father and ushers her into the bedroom, where a crucifix perches above the headboard. When Vickie admires Jake's shiny convertible, he invites her for a ride, and after changing from her swimsuit into a virginal white outfit, she joins him. Watching Vickie drive off with Salvy, Jake sends Joey to the pool the next day to arrange an introduction to her. Leaving Irma at home one night, Jake attends a church charity dance with Joey, where he sees Vickie seated across the room with Salvy.

When Jake questions Joey about Vickie, Joey reminds him that he is a married man. At the neighborhood swimming pool one day, Jake spots blonde, fifteen-year-old Vickie Thailer, who piques his interest and passion. Later, when Salvy comes to watch Jake in a sparring match with Joey, Jake becomes so angered by Salvy's presence that he pummels Joey. Suddenly hostile, Jake provokes Joey into hitting him in the face.

Once Joey mollifies his enraged brother, the mercurial Jake laments that his small, girlish hands limit his ability to rise to the top.

Nevertheless, Joey promises to present Salvy's offer to Jake, and proceeds to his brother's dreary, run-down apartment, where Jake is in the middle of a screaming match with his wife Irma. Although Joey agrees with Salvy, he observes that his stubborn brother, whom he affectionately calls 'Jack,' has 'a head like concrete' and insists upon remaining independent. Following Jake's defeat, Salvy Batts, who works for boxing racketeer Tommy Como, informs Jake's brother and manager Joey that an association with Tommy could advance Jake's career. In 1941, at a boxing match in Cleveland, Ohio, pandemonium breaks out when Jake La Motta, an up-and-coming young boxer, loses a decision to Jimmy Reeves, suffering his first loss and igniting a brawl in which audience members are trampled underfoot.

Raging bull jake