The G Manifesto

The Greatest Muhammad Ali on Youtube and Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Fights, the Fifties

Click Here for Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Fights, the Fifties

Thanks to reader Matt for letting me know that Muhammad Ali – The Greatest is on Youtube:

In other boxing news:

Click Here for Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Fights, the Fifties

Gangs of Madison Square Garden

At the end of the 19th century, the bluebloods took over the bare-knuckle prize ring, put gloves on the contestants and laid claim to the fights. It was the best and worst thing that had ever happened to boxing: Now civilized, the sport grew in popularity but compromised its savage soul. In the 1950s, televisions arrived in American living rooms and fans tuned in to watch the Friday-night fights. It was the best and worst thing that had ever happened to the sport: Though immensely profitable, boxing lost a primal connection with its most avid fans, the spectators in the arena.

Between these eras, during the so-called golden years, the best and worst thing that happened to boxing was the mob.

This was a period in which a fighter had to be “connected” to compete in the fights at Madison Square Garden—the fights that mattered. The mobsters—Frankie Carbo, Frank Costello, “Blinky” Palermo, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and countless figures associated with the Genovese, Lucchese and Gotti crime families— controlled every aspect of boxing management and promotion, the fights and fighters. Yet the same era spawned such champions as “Cinderella Man” James J. Braddock, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano and the self-proclaimed “Greatest of All Time,” Muhammad Ali.

Click Here for Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Fights, the Fifties

Kevin Mitchell, the chief sports writer for the London Observer, unravels the helix of the mafia and the fight game in “Jacobs Beach,” his second book on the sweet science. (“Jacobs Beach” was a nickname for the corner of Broadway and Eighth Ave. in Manhattan, where fight fans would crowd for tickets at the offices of promoter Mike Jacobs.) Less about the sport than about the business intrigue surrounding it, Mr. Mitchell’s account brings to life the fight world of that era, often drawing on his own interviews with athletes and notables, such as writer Budd Schulberg, boxer Joe Miceli and trainer Lou Duva.

Source

Thanks to Le Parvenue for putting me up on this.

Click Here for Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Fights, the Fifties

The Rest is Up to You…

Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life

http://www.thegmanifesto.com

Method Man, Ghostface, Raekwon – Our Dreams