By Geno McGahee
Boxing has always been considered the most corrupt sport of all sports, but it is also the sport of kings and has survived the endless bad press. In today’s game, controversy is rampant with corrupt sanctioning bodies, PEDs and bad decisions, but it used to be much worse. There was a time when the mafia controlled boxing and fixed fights for a long time, but it would come crashing down and that is all covered in a great book by Kevin Mitchell called “JACOBS BEACH: THE MOB, THE GARDEN AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF BOXING.”
It is surprising to think that some of the biggest names in the sport were mob fighters, but that was the price they paid for being allowed to make it to a big stage and make serious money. Fighters like Jake LaMotta, one of the greatest fighters of all time, was on the take and even admitted to throwing a fight at one time, but boxers that didn’t play the game would feel the wrath of the mob.
One of the most high profile fighters that were so obviously mob-owned was heavyweight champion, Sonny Liston. Liston was a basic illiterate with a criminal background and was used by the mafia to make a lot of money and when he got too big and fought his owners, he was murdered, allegedly, by the group that had rode his back to riches.
We get some great insight from Teddy Atlas and his reflections about Cus D’Amato, the trainer of such greats as Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson. D’Amato was known for resisting the mob and keeping his fighters away from the trap, making him a rebel in the game. In the early stages of Mike Tyson, D’Amato made sure to surround his young fighter with business men that he knew he could trust. Atlas is a storyteller and his lives boxing. His knowledge is a good addition to this book.
The mafia had a free for all until the 1960s when the government shut down the wide control of the game, but it didn’t go completely away. Don King had long history of mob associations and many fighters have been shaken down and used by the mobsters.
JACOBS BEACH: THE MOB, THE GARDEN AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF BOXING gives a great history lesson about the mob involvement in the sport and goes through a lot of the big names and the control that they were under. It is an easy read and presents some really fascinating stuff. I highly recommend this one. I loved it.
