Boxer Jake LaMotta was famous for dishing out punishing beatings in the ring.
But LaMotta — who inspired Martin Scorsese’s 1980 masterpiece “Raging Bull” and died this week at 95 — wasn’t such a tough guy when former world featherweight champion Willie Pep was around.
One day, LaMotta was hanging out in a Seventh Avenue saloon owned by Pep when a hulking, well-dressed Japanese man approached the former world middleweight champion, reports The Post’s Kirsten Fleming.
“He was a collector for the Jewish loan sharks,” said director Matt Cimber, who helmed the original television series “GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.”
As the man kept tapping LaMotta to grab his attention, the bruiser continued to ignore him.
“Of course, this persistent guy keeps bumping Jake. Finally the guy got really angry and was losing his patience. He took his elbow and hit him right in the back of the neck,” said Cimber, who was having lunch there at the time and was an acquaintance of LaMotta’s.
“Jake turned around and belted this guy. To this day, I could hear the crack. The guy just folded right to the floor,” he said.
Pep kept a tight ship — and a golf club behind the bar.
“He came out with the club and started swinging it [at LaMotta] and said, ‘Get out of here, you bum.’”
A spooked LaMotta profusely apologized as he dodged the swings.
“Jake is going, ‘I’m sorry, Willie. I didn’t mean it.’ Jake just took off out the door.”
Said Cimber of the barroom brawl, “Nobody messed with Willie Pep.”