At the same time, "John" felt water (and then blood) dripping from a pipe onto his cheek in the youth center""s dormitory.] In preparation for a new 1972 release for US audiences, Kubrick replaced about 30 seconds of footage to get an R-rating, as opposed to the X-rating hat the MPAA initially assigned to it." He knocks Reeves down to the mat.Flashbulbs explode and clink and the crowd erupts.With a couple more "hard lefts," La Motta pummels him hard and knocks down his unprotected opponent a second time - and then again a third time in a comeback attempt in he final round.He became the first black man to play the role of a smart and highly-educated detective, and even more importantly, he first to strike a white man in an American film.