Famous fighters associated with the underworld?

[JAB5239]

Is it rumor? I've read it from a few different sources. Not sure if it was fact or rumor.

What does the book say?

I didn't read the book I just put a search in and that is one of the things I came up with. It said both the gangsters and Marciano had a fondness for each other and did associate. But Marciano had to much integrity to have any business dealing with them as a fighter. For their part the mob guys put the word out that Marciano wasn't to be messed with and nobody should try to have any underhanded dealing with him and try to take advantage of him. Everything else I searched pretty much confirms this. I didn't come across anything that said Rocky kicked any money up to the wise guys at all.

[JAB5239]

According to Johnny Arthur...

“There was one guy,” he recalled. “Everybody feared him. If you wanted to challenge Marciano for his title, you first had to fight him. I’m not just talking about official matches either. If they wanted to keep it quiet you had to fight him in the gym. He was brutal. He’d either beat you so badly that you’d pull out of the fight with Marciano, or just hurt you real bad so that when you climbed into the ring for the fight you were still hurting. He was better than Marciano, but they never let him fight him. He was just the guy you had to go through to get a title shot.”

Again, Im not saying it isn't true, but it sound pretty melodramatic and fictional in my opinion. More like a movie than reality, but who knows?

[The Hate Giver]

Page 290 of the book "Rocky Marciano: The rock of his time" refutes all of this.

Just because he refutes it doesnt mean it didnt happen.

I didn't read the book I just put a search in and that is one of the things I came up with. It said both the gangsters and Marciano had a fondness for each other and did associate. But Marciano had to much integrity to have any business dealing with them as a fighter. For their part the mob guys put the word out that Marciano wasn't to be messed with and nobody should try to have any underhanded dealing with him and try to take advantage of him. Everything else I searched pretty much confirms this. I didn't come across anything that said Rocky kicked any money up to the wise guys at all.

reading that pretty much sums up that he was controlled.

[mickey malone]

Marciano gave a percentage to the mob? I've never heard this either. This is interesting to me since my father was friends with Raymond Patriarca who ran the New England family AND saw Marciano fight several times at the old Rhode Island auditorium. Do have any sources on this or which family he supposedly kicked back to?

I've always struggled with the thought of Marciano being involved with the mob, but I believe it to be a fact, that he did pay a visit to the deathbed of Vito Genovese, one of the most brutal Mafia bosses of all time..
Marciano and the mob, has always been one of the most controversial topics in boxing..

[JAB5239]

Just because he refutes it doesnt mean it didnt happen.

Others refute it, and it doesn't mean it did happen.

reading that pretty much sums up that he was controlled.

Only a complete moron would jump to such a conclusion. Can you offer ANY proof?

[JAB5239]

I've always struggled with the thought of Marciano being involved with the mob, but I believe it to be a fact, that he did pay a visit to the deathbed of Vito Genovese, one of the most brutal Mafia bosses of all time..
Marciano and the mob, has always been one of the most controversial topics in boxing..

Associated doesn't mean involved though. Hell, I grew up around wise guys. Frank "Bobo" Marapese was my fathers best friend. That doesn't mean I have dealings with them, only that we've associated.

[The Hate Giver]

Only a complete moron would jump to such a conclusion. Can you offer ANY proof?

so marciano & mafiosi had fondness for each other & did associate but you think that he had too much integrity to do such things in a boxing era steeped in mafia corruption?

Do you have proof he wasnt corrupted other than his word?


Him being a italian undefeated heavyweight in a era where fighters rarely ever go undefeated in any division along with his fondness of gangsters & gangsters fondness of him while both associating with each other in a boxing era controlled by the italian mafia is more proof than him denying it.



Talk about a moron jumping to conclusions.

[CarlosG815]

Only a complete moron would jump to such a conclusion. Can you offer ANY proof?

If you consider the power of the mob at the time, it would be difficult for there to be any evidence if they didn't want there to be any.

Mafia owned law, newspapers, ceo's, etc.

It's not like the conclusion he's jumping to is THAT idiotic, man. It's a pretty legit argument and I think most would agree that he probably did, even though there is no hard evidence.

[JAB5239]

so marciano & mafiosi had fondness for each other & did associate but you think that he had too much integrity to do such things in a boxing era steeped in mafia corruption?

Do you have proof he wasnt corrupted other than his word?


Him being a italian undefeated heavyweight in a era where fighters rarely ever go undefeated in any division along with his fondness of gangsters & gangsters fondness of him while both associating with each other in a boxing era controlled by the italian mafia is more proof than him denying it.



Talk about a moron jumping to conclusions.

So you've got absolutely no proof? Zero? Nada? Zilch? Nothing? Figures.

[JAB5239]

If you consider the power of the mob at the time, it would be difficult for there to be any evidence if they didn't want there to be any.

Mafia owned law, newspapers, ceo's, etc.

It's not like the conclusion he's jumping to is THAT idiotic, man. It's a pretty legit argument and I think most would agree that he probably did, even though there is no hard evidence.

Most would agree on what, that he was controlled or influenced by the mob?