Former Gambino underboss testimony about Boxing and mob ties(1993)

[BKM-]

Saw this recently on youtube. Sammy "The Bull" Gravano is well known for ratting out his mob and all of that, in this testimony to the US Senate he talks about boxing and fixed fights, ties to the mob etc. You hear names like Certo, Snipes and even Hagler. He says they stopped being involved in boxing at the start of the 60s and later came back in the 80s. Sammy himself used to train at Teddy Atlas' gym imagine that.

Let me know your thoughts on this one.

[ecto55]

Nice find BKM.

Yeah, I remember this at the time...but could only read about it. Roughly same time (maybe a couple of years earlier) as John McCain's crusade against boxing....ostensibly with the aim of setting up a national commission. I don't really know if that was ever his true motive.

The NY boxing media (Boxing Illustrated etc) where very enamored with John Gotti at the time....guys like Bert Sugar & Herb Goldman really loved Gotti and regularly ran down Gravano (it wasn't even really boxing news) in their boxing magazines - I recall some editions even had cartoons mocking him.

Renaldo Snipes, I remember he was kicked out of Gotti's trial for looking intimating (big black man in a suit is scary...but all the shrimpy Italian hitmen with double digit bodycounts in court aren't??). I think he came to court in a purple or blue suit....dressed to impress and was immediately thrown out of court by the judge (gotta laugh).

Al Certo...there's a name. He was accused of being mafia connected / affiliated...I think by Lou Duva? His response was classic - if I was involved with the mafia, do you think I'd have all this trouble getting Buddy McGirt his title shot?

Nice find - I look forward to watching.

[OctoberRed]

Snipes is a bit on the crazy side. Did some wacky interviews 10 years or so back.

[QueensburyRules]

- -Seems Certo passed a few years back as a respected cut man, but as I recall he was accused of being behind the drugging of Wlad vs Brewster I, a Don King fight where the ******** industry froze out all wagers after a huge block of wagers came in from the UK the week before the fight.

Brewster a huge underdog and very poor boxer much like Today's Deyonce was so dire in that fight that even Roy Jr was calling for the stoppage.

Last rd and suddenly Wlad could barely hold his hands up for defense and collapsed at rd end in spite of taking no punishment in a low paced fight.

Manny and Vitali thought he'd been drugged and fired Certo from the team.

Now, I'm relying on recollection, so if I mixed up Certo with another Cutman, my apologies if thats the case, but that's the way I remember it years later.