Stephanie Lamotta

The punching bag in the drafty gym rattled loudly at first but then Stephanie LaMotta increased the tempo of her punches and the bag produced a steady, throbbing hum. For 15 minutes she pounded the bag, alternating between her left and right fists. Sweat began to stream down her face. In a sense, LaMotta, a Los Angeles actress, wasn't punching the speed bag. Instead, her punches lashed out at a silent, unseen enemy more terrifying, more dangerous than any human opponent.

Stephanie LaMotta tough? You could ask a would-be London mugger about that. One night in 1982, LaMotta walked out of a nightclub when a man approached and asked her for money. "The funny part is, I was going to give him some money," she recalled. "I said, 'Come over to my car and I'll write you a small check.' "Then he pulled out a knife. I said to him, 'I'm going to hurt you if you use that.' "He tried to stab me but I blocked the knife with my left hand, which he cut.

Stephanie LaMotta, daughter of famed boxing champion Jake LaMotta, sat in her wheelchair, engrossed in a video of her father's 1951 fight with Sugar Ray Robinson. "What a man," she muttered, watching her father take one tremendous punch after another, shake each one off and continue taking the fight to Robinson. Fifty years have passed since LaMotta and Robinson fought at old Chicago Stadium. On Feb.

Stephanie LaMotta, daughter of famed boxing champion Jake LaMotta, sat in her wheelchair, engrossed in a video of her father's 1951 fight with Sugar Ray Robinson. "What a man," she muttered, watching her father take one tremendous punch after another, shake each one off and continue taking the fight to Robinson. Fifty years have passed since LaMotta and Robinson fought at old Chicago Stadium. On Feb.

Stephanie LaMotta tough? You could ask a would-be London mugger about that. One night in 1982, LaMotta walked out of a nightclub when a man approached and asked her for money. "The funny part is, I was going to give him some money," she recalled. "I said, 'Come over to my car and I'll write you a small check.' "Then he pulled out a knife. I said to him, 'I'm going to hurt you if you use that.' "He tried to stab me but I blocked the knife with my left hand, which he cut.

She's Jake LaMotta's kid. She's tough. Gentle in her fashion. Feminine. But tough. Ten years ago--she was 21, working in London as a session guitarist, dating Ringo Starr--Stephanie LaMotta got clobbered by multiple sclerosis. Really decked. She went blind. Back in New York, the doctors had no idea what was wrong with her. (Even now it's hard to diagnose MS, an often disabling, chronic disorder of the nervous system.) "They told me, 'Chances are you'll never see again.'

The article about me ["Body Blow," July 14] and the photo send a message about me that is disturbing. As I was the spokeswoman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for four years, and continue to try to inspire others who have this disease, it is important to me that we correct the message the article and photo send. As a result of the photo, I have received many phone calls and letters from those who think I have deteriorated into a terrible state, which is untrue. The photo was snapped while I was struggling with my dogs.

Art Miles is watching a lot of TV these days in his Inglewood living room. All day, Mike Tyson videotapes spin through his VCR, while Miles takes notes. Miles' heavyweight, Donovan (Razor) Ruddock, will fight Tyson on March 18 at the Mirage in Las Vegas, a bout that many in pro boxing have difficulty understanding. Let's say you're Don King, Mike Tyson's promoter.

It's Fourth of July weekend, and baseball, the national pastime, is as much a part of it as family barbecues and fireworks. So, let's see what CBS, the baseball network, has to offer. What, no baseball on CBS this weekend? That can't be. You would think that even CBS, which has obliterated what once was a baseball staple--the "Game of the Week"--wouldn't dare leave baseball off its schedule on Fourth of July weekend.

The punching bag in the drafty gym rattled loudly at first but then Stephanie LaMotta increased the tempo of her punches and the bag produced a steady, throbbing hum. For 15 minutes she pounded the bag, alternating between her left and right fists. Sweat began to stream down her face. In a sense, LaMotta, a Los Angeles actress, wasn't punching the speed bag. Instead, her punches lashed out at a silent, unseen enemy more terrifying, more dangerous than any human opponent.

She's Jake LaMotta's kid. She's tough. Gentle in her fashion. Feminine. But tough. Ten years ago--she was 21, working in London as a session guitarist, dating Ringo Starr--Stephanie LaMotta got clobbered by multiple sclerosis. Really decked. She went blind. Back in New York, the doctors had no idea what was wrong with her. (Even now it's hard to diagnose MS, an often disabling, chronic disorder of the nervous system.) "They told me, 'Chances are you'll never see again.'