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Showing posts with the label Boxing

Good, Bad, Ugly: The Bull Talks About The Mob In First Interview Since 1997

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John Gotti met and apparently argued with boxing promoter Don King prior to the crime kingpin's rise to the top of the Gambinos, which suggests that a past relationship may have colored Gotti's alleged decision to order the boxing impresario's murder. Sammy taking the oath. Or not , we readily admit. Gravano talked about this, his testimony for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that was examining corruption in boxing, and other things in his first interview since Diane Sawyer in 1997. (Full interview posted below.) This story is a continuation of a story published yesterday ; it's not about the Sammy Gravano interview posted below. According to an informant's report dated Sept. 20, 1982, King met with Gotti, then a capo in the Gambino crime family, at Patrissy's, a restaurant in Manhattan's Little Italy. "Gotti and King dined together," the informant said. Weeks later, on Oct. 2, 1982, the same informant reporte...

Remembering When The Gambinos Muscled Their Way Back Into Boxing

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"Take the gun out and shoot him right in the heard" if he says no... That’s what former Gambino underboss Sammy The Bull Gravano (in first of two trailers posted below in this story) says he told a "street guy" intermediary representing him and Gambino boss John Gotti during negotiations with fight impresario Don King. Don King. (The names Renaldo Snipes and Francesco Damiani ring a bell, Sammy?) Don King was once best buds with President Donald Trump back when Trump was a mere real estate developer-mortal with casino interests seeking to dip a toe in the boxing world. Trump has even credited King for his trademark coiffure, saying that King once told him that outlandish hair is the secret to great PR.  In the late 80s, Trump hosted boxing invitationals in Atlantic City when Don King promoted Mike Tyson and Butch Lewis promoted Michael Spinks. “They’re very good businessmen,” Trump said of Don King and his then-rival Lewis in 1988. “I’ve found t...

The Mob's Control of Prizefighting Molded Sport's Evolution

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Incredibly absorbing documentary about the mob's decades-long control of prizefighting. Most notable - the film uses modern technology to highlight the so-called " phantom punch " that sent Sonny Liston to the mat. This knockdown -- further screwed up by the referee, a former boxer himself -- marked the beginning of the end of both Liston's boxing career and the mob's influence over the sport. (Some even believe the mob murdered Liston.) The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship were among the most watched and controversial fights in the sport's history. The phantom punch ended the second fight between Muhammad Ali (then still known as Cassius Clay) and Sonny Liston.