Are Italian mobsters great Street fighters?

[FinitoxDinamita]

My absolute favorite. Dude could be a dunce, had a recorded IQ of like 70... But was imo one of the very smartest. Ran things invisably, and when he left this earth, unlike so many who wound up with nothing because of RICO, The Chin had a brownstone in NYC. You could sell 50 of Castellono's Staten Island Mansions and not buy that townhouse... Chin managed to fool the feds for years...

He was a fascinating character for sure. Despite not coming off as the smartest guy, he somehow managed to run the underworld Ivy leaguers for years.

He did fail in two hit jobs against Costello and Gotti yet his cred doesnt seem to take hits.

[GhostofDempsey]

Lol, remember the blackjacks? and 007's? Someguys in my hood would take a billiard ball and put it in a sock.

Yep, owned a few of those 007's myself. Just what I needed a time or two. Guys I knew would have a chain with a padlock on it. If cops asked about it they said they were on their way to pick up a bike. Or they carried everyday tools like a screwdriver or hammer, claimed it was work-related. It holds up better in court than shanking someone with a knife. Older cars also had car antennas that proved to be very effective. Guy I know got dozens of stitches in his forehead from a guy whipping a car antenna at him in the dark. Never saw it.

[billeau2]

What would you say is the difference between VIOLENCE and FIGHTING

Fighting can be done on many levels. Human beings as a species ritualize violence and direct it accordingly. I try desperately to explain this to people that I teach martial arts... So for example, if you and I have a beef, and we decide that we will meet up in a parking lot, in that situation we can speak about killing each other, etc, but we will fight in a fashion where the person who has training and wind will probably win. We know instinctively that one of us will stop if the other can't fight on, we know that we will become friends after... etc.

On the other hand, if I come into my house and someone is trying to harm my family... the fight, level of violence, etc changes dramatically... In that situation my body goes into a type of shock, initially I feel weak, then incredibly strong, I see only movement and I become unable to use fine motor movements unless they are well trained. If I grapple,or hit it will look and feel very different than if we are having a street fight.

Violence is just a degree of work inflicted... A street fight, even though it is different can be violent because, it does not mean that your opponent may not take advantage and kick someone when down, etc. Violence is a yardstick when measuring conflict, fighting is something we do that usually has a social motivator. Duels are examples of social confrontations that are deadly... But we are inherently capable of more violence when we are in a true fight or flight situation. As you can see this capability does not change how deadly a confrontation that has a social antecedent can be.

[GhostofDempsey]

Genovese boss Chin Gigante was a boxer and looking at his big ass fists, he probably cracked some heads.

Chin was actually the most powerful mob boss at the time Gotti as claiming to be boss of bosses. Chin was smart, he had Tony Salerno out in front of him convincing everyone Tony was the boss to take the heat off of Chin. One of my problems with Chin was that he was also in charge of prostitution in the city, and the underground gay mafia, who were known for trafficking children for prostitution and rituals. Not sure how much he knew about what was really going on, but so long as the cash was flowing he probably didn't care.

[billeau2]

He was a fascinating character for sure. Despite not coming off as the smartest guy, he somehow managed to run the underworld Ivy leaguers for years.

He did fail in two hit jobs against Costello and Gotti yet his cred doesnt seem to take hits.

The Costello hit was comical. Costello on the witness standin court was asked if he recognized Vincent and said "nah, that wasn't him." Knowing that Costello had seen him Vincent allegedlly stated for all to hear "Thank you Frank."

To me the mark of the great ones was how sparingly they used violence. Luciano as compared to the Philly mob where guys were gunned down in the 70's indiscriminantly. vincent used violence sparingly, and effectively. He was respected among other reasons, for that way. And yes, the Genovese were considered the "Ivy League" family of the mob.

[Emerson Periott]

No such thing as.....I'm Italian so a great street fighter. Actually it's all about the individual, the key is cardio conditioning. Every bar fight I have seen the dude who pooped out first lost. These guys aren't trained fighters.

[GrandpaBernard]

No such thing as.....I'm Italian so a great street fighter. Actually it's all about the individual, the key is cardio conditioning. Every bar fight I have seen the dude who pooped out first lost. These guys aren't trained fighters.

you seen dudes gas in street fights?

[GhostofDempsey]

There was a former pro fighter by the name of Johnny DiGilio who worked for Chin. He once refused an order by Chin by relaying a message back to him, "go f*** yourself" was basically his response. That one cost him his life. Chin put the word out to take him out.

[Emerson Periott]

you seen dudes gas in street fights?

Every street/bar fight I have ever seen came down to cardio ....ah....lack of cardio conditioning. Nobody is in shape to fight, that takes training,

[billeau2]

Chin was actually the most powerful mob boss at the time Gotti as claiming to be boss of bosses. Chin was smart, he had Tony Salerno out in front of him convincing everyone Tony was the boss to take the heat off of Chin. One of my problems with Chin was that he was also in charge of prostitution in the city, and the underground gay mafia, who were known for trafficking children for prostitution and rituals. Not sure how much he knew about what was really going on, but so long as the cash was flowing he probably didn't care.

Unfortunately there is a common theme where bosses don't know about some of the work their soldgers are doing. There actually was a time where drugs were not allowed, heroin was a big big nono.