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More than any other sport, boxing has a history of being easy to rig. There are only two athletes and one or both may be induced to accept a bribe; if not the fighters, then the judges or referee might be swayed. In such inviting circumstances, the mob moved into boxing in the 1930s and profited by corrupting a sport ripe for exploitation.
In Boxing and the Mob: The Notorious History of the Sweet Science, Jeffrey Sussman tells the story of the coercive and criminal underside of boxing, covering nearly the entire twentieth century. He profiles some of its most infamous characters, such as Owney Madden, Frankie Carbo, and Frank Palermo, and details many of the fixed matches in boxing's storied history. In addition, Sussman examines the influence of the mob on legendary boxers-including Primo Carnera, Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Baer, Carmen Basilio, Sonny Liston, and Jake LaMotta-and whether they caved to the mobsters' threats or refused to throw their fights.
Boxing and the Mob is the first book to cover a century of fixed fights, paid-off referees, greedy managers, misused boxers, and the mobsters who controlled it all. True crime and the world of boxing are intertwined with absorbing detail in this notorious piece of American history.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: The Man Who Fixed the 1919 World Series
2: From Boxer to Bagman to Gambler
3: Owney Madden and Fixing the Heavyweight Championship
4: The Machiavelli of Promoters
5: The Gray Czar of Boxing
6: The Big Fix
7: Up from the Mucklands
8: Sonny Liston's Blues
9: Why Give Up a Good Thing?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
About the author
Jeffrey Sussman is the author of numerous non-fiction books, several of which deal with organized crime. He has appeared in documentaries, on podcasts, in television interviews, and on radio speaking about every aspect of organized crime. He is regarded as a leading authority on organized crime and the Mafia in the United States. Jeffrey lives in New York City.
Summary
Boxing and the Mob explores the heavy influence of the mob on boxing in the 1930s through the early 1960s. It profiles boxers such as Abe Attell and Sonny Liston and infamous mobsters including Owney Madden and Frankie Carbo. In addition, this book details many of the most notorious fixed boxing matches in the sport’s history.
