Famous fighters associated with the underworld?

[CarlosG815]

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

Not controlled, or necessarily influenced, but his career was heavily associated.

Again I have no proof but I think it's a legit concern.

[mickey malone]

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.

Well I reckon that you'd now better than me then.. My old fella knew the Krays but didn't get involved with them.. Rumour has it that they controlled the career of Freddie Mills.. Some say he was having a clandestine ****sexual affair with Ronnie Kray, and this may have led to his suspicious gun death in the middle of London.

One fight that always did have a lot of controversy surrounding the mob, was when Ernie Terrell defeated George Chuvalo for the WBA title after Ali had been stripped..
Terrell was managed by Frank Carbo's old no2, Bernie Glickman..
"Bernie Glickman came up there and scared everybody to death," recalled Chuvallo 30 years later.. "He said, if you throw punches, you're going to end up in Lake Erie!"

For 6 rounds the Terrell-Chuvalo fight was fairly competetive, but in the last half of the fight, the footage clearly shows the normally free-swinging Chuvalo barely punched at all..

[JAB5239]

Well I reckon that you'd now better than me then.. My old fella knew the Krays but didn't get involved with them.. Rumour has it that they controlled the career of Freddie Mills.. Some say he was having a clandestine ****sexual affair with Ronnie Kray, and this may have led to his suspicious gun death in the middle of London.

One fight that always did have a lot of controversy surrounding the mob, was when Ernie Terrell defeated George Chuvalo for the WBA title after Ali had been stripped..
Terrell was managed by Frank Carbo's old no2, Bernie Glickman..
"Bernie Glickman came up there and scared everybody to death," recalled Chuvallo 30 years later.. "He said, if you throw punches, you're going to end up in Lake Erie!"

For 6 rounds the Terrell-Chuvalo fight was fairly competetive, but in the last half of the fight, the footage clearly shows the normally free-swinging Chuvalo barely punched at all..

Great info on the related subject. Thanks Mic!!

[GJC]

Think with Marciano and the mob there is a lot of 2 + 2 = 5.
He was Italian + they were Italian, he drank with some people who might be viewed as unsavoury.
Well I've had a lot of drinks in my time with people who would be viewed as very unsavoury whose company I enjoyed and who were neighbours etc but it doesn't make me a gangster.

They had a lot of influence in boxing in that era for sure but looking at Marciano's career:
1) He never lost. So no taking a dive there.
2) He didn't half give people a working over. If they were taking a dive a lot of them sure took their time over it and took an awful lot of punishment. You would struggle to find a KO of Marciano's that didn't look like a very hard punch or accumalation of punches.

Lots of criminals used to box as kids so they hero worship boxers, the twins who Micky referred to certainly did.

It's very thin circumstantial evidence to take away a mans good name on IMO.

[mickey malone]

Vito Antuofermo, a crude bleeder from New York held the MW title, but everyone knew Hagler was the real king.. In 1992, Mob stoolie, Michael Franzese testified in a Washington court that some of Antuofermo's fights were fixed, but he claimed the Hagler fight wasn't.. Hagler pounded Vito on 30th November 1979, only to get a scandalous draw.. You'd never convince skeptics..

[GJC]

[COLOR="Green"].. My old fella knew the Krays but didn't get involved with them.. Rumour has it that they controlled the career of Freddie Mills.. Some say he was having a clandestine ****sexual affair with Ronnie Kray, and this may have led to his suspicious gun death in the middle of London.

Freddie was long retired before the twins were a factor Mickey was a big rumour at the time that they had their fingers on a boxer, you'd know of him, but it wasn't Freddie.
Don't think there was anything untoward there even with his club, they loved Freddie (not in that way either!) and liked to be seen with famous people.
Ronnie liked the younger lads I understand and a bit prettier than Freddie lol
Awful lot of rumours about Freddie Mills but I think that it is easy to libel a dead man. I just think that people could never associate the brave chirpy battler that he was with a man that would commit suicide.

[mickey malone]

Freddie was long retired before the twins were a factor Mickey was a big rumour at the time that they had their fingers on a boxer, you'd know of him, but it wasn't Freddie.
Don't think there was anything untoward there even with his club, they loved Freddie (not in that way either!) and liked to be seen with famous people.
Ronnie liked the younger lads I understand and a bit prettier than Freddie lol
Awful lot of rumours about Freddie Mills but I think that it is easy to libel a dead man. I just think that people could never associate the brave chirpy battler that he was with a man that would commit suicide.

Comendable input there my good man.. I should have made my sarcasm a lot clearer when describing what some mortals have actually come out with..
I wasn't intending to soil his reputation I can assure you.. Al Brown, Emile Grffith, Ronnie Kray were all gay imo, but there is no evidence to suggest that Freddie Mills was.. Like those mentioined b4 him, it doesn't change the way I regard them, as it wouldn't if Mills was gay..

The twins were as you know associated with with quite a few boxers and i think i know the one your referring to, so my bad for inferring his career as opposed to his retirement, but there was a fairly strong association there, and he did die in quite suspicious circumstances.. I wonder why so many absurd things have been written about him?
If it was suicide, it comes down to the same old question - Why? - so i suppose we'll never know for sure, but you were in your prime while knocking about in that neck of the woods while all this was gioing on so i respect your view more than anyone elses on this call..

[StarshipTrooper]

basically everybody in the so called boxing's golden era.

Old timers go on & on about how bad the state of boxing is these days yet in the golden era black people didnt even have equal rights as human beings & citizens. How much more in the sport of boxing?

how many fighters threw fights? How many black fighters got robbed of wins, how many black fighters didnt get title shots?

Golden Era = Tainted Era.

Ah yes, and in the squeaky clean modern era we get crooks like Don King and Bob Arum. Sounds to me like the era you're bad mouthing was no more corrupt than today's cesspool.

Poet

[The Hate Giver]

Ah yes, and in the squeaky clean modern era we get crooks like Don King and Bob Arum. Sounds to me like the era you're bad mouthing was no more corrupt than today's cesspool.

Poet

More corrupt, powerful, & dangerous;

former murder inc. gunman & lucchese made man >>>>> king & arum.