Boxing and the Mob
The Notorious History of the Sweet Science
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Narrated by:
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David Marantz
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By:
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Jeffrey Sussman
About this listen
More than any other sport, boxing has a history of being easy to rig. There are only two athletes and one or both may be induced to accept a bribe; if not the fighters, then the judges or referee might be swayed. In such inviting circumstances, the mob moved into boxing in the 1930s and profited by corrupting a sport ripe for exploitation.
In Boxing and the Mob: The Notorious History of the Sweet Science, Jeffrey Sussman tells the story of the coercive and criminal underside of boxing, covering nearly the entire 20th century. He profiles some of its most infamous characters, such as Owney Madden, Frankie Carbo, and Frank Palermo, and details many of the fixed matches in boxing's storied history. In addition, Sussman examines the influence of the mob on legendary boxers-including Primo Carnera, Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Baer, Carmen Basilio, Sonny Liston, and Jake LaMotta-and whether they caved to the mobsters' threats or refused to throw their fights.
Boxing and the Mob is the first book to cover a century of fixed fights, paid-off referees, greedy managers, misused boxers, and the mobsters who controlled it all. True crime and the world of boxing are intertwined with absorbing detail in this notorious piece of American history.
©2019 Jeffrey Sussman (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Get this book
- By Jonathan on 05-13-10
By: Jonathan Eig
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Vegas and the Mob
- By: Al W. Moe
- Narrated by: Jason Sullivan
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Las Vegas was the Mob's greatest venture and most spectacular success, and through 40 years of frenzy, murder, deceit, scams, and skimming, the FBI listened on phone taps and did virtually nothing to stop the fun. This is the truth about the Mob's control of the casinos in Vegas like you've never heard it before, from start to finish.
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From Bugsy to Binion
- By Patrick King on 08-20-14
By: Al W. Moe
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The Vapors
- A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice
- By: David Hill
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Back in the days before Vegas was big, when the Mob was at its peak and neon lights were but a glimmer on the horizon, a little Southern town styled itself as a premier destination for the American leisure class. Hot Springs, Arkansas was home to healing waters, Art Deco splendor, and America's original national park - as well as horse racing, nearly a dozen illegal casinos, countless backrooms and brothels, and some of the country’s most bald-faced criminals.
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If you don’t live in Arkansas…
- By JohnFern0813 on 08-14-20
By: David Hill
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A Flame of Pure Fire
- Jack Dempsey and the Roaring '20s
- By: Roger Kahn
- Narrated by: Kevin Yon
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Through most of the Roaring '20s, Jack Dempsey was the heavyweight champion of the world. With his fierce good looks and matchless dedication to the kill, he was a fighter perfectly suited to his time. In A Flame of Pure Fire, renowned sports writer Roger Kahn not only chronicles the thrilling, brutal bouts of the Manassa Mauler, but also illustrates how the tumultuous 1920s shaped Dempsey - and how the champ, in turn, left an indelible mark on sports and American history.
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Ambitious but poorly executed
- By Keith on 10-02-19
By: Roger Kahn
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The Mob and the City
- The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York
- By: C. Alexander Hortis
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Forget what you think you know about the Mafia. After reading this book, even life-long mob aficionados will have a new perspective on organized crime. Informative, authoritative, and eye-opening, this is the first full-length book devoted exclusively to uncovering the hidden history of how the Mafia came to dominate organized crime in New York City during the 1930s through 1950s.
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Hard one to rate....
- By Jeffery D. Giuliani on 09-24-20
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The Boxing Kings
- When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring
- By: Paul Beston
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The Boxing Kings tells the story of the heavyweight title in the days when it was a defining institution in the United States. Author Paul Beston places special emphasis on those champions who held a central place in American culture beyond just in the boxing ring, including John L. Sullivan, who made the title a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who in 1908 became the first black man to claim the title; Joe Louis, whose contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended even his greatness in the ring; and many more.
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An outstanding book on heavyweight champions
- By LSmith on 02-01-18
By: Paul Beston
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Gangster Squad
- Covert Cops, the Mob, and the Battle for Los Angeles
- By: Paul Lieberman
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Gangster Squad chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII. In 1946, the LAPD launched the Gangster Squad with eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds. But for two cops, all that mattered was nailing the strutting gangster Mickey Cohen. Sgt. Jack O’Mara was a square-jawed church usher, Sgt. Jerry Wooters a cynical maverick....
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Nothing Like the movie
- By KEITH on 02-21-13
By: Paul Lieberman
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The Murder of Sonny Liston
- Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights
- By: Shaun Assael
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On January 5, 1971, Sonny Liston was found dead in his home - of an apparent heroin overdose. But no one close to Liston believed that his death was accidental. Digging deep into a life that Liston tried hard to hide, Shaun Assael treats the boxer's death as a cold case. The result is a riveting whodunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas.
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Great read
- By Diane Dodge on 09-14-19
By: Shaun Assael
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Animal
- The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob's Most Feared Assassin
- By: Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Jim Goad
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Joe Barboza knew that there were two requirements for getting inducted into the Mafia. You had to be Sicilian. And you had to commit a contract killing. The New Bedford-born mobster was a proud Portuguese, not Sicilian, but his dream to be part of La Cosa Nostra proved so strong that he thought he could create a loophole. Barboza’s legacy, buried for years thanks to the murders or deaths of its participants, is finally coming to light and being told in its unvarnished brutality by one of America’s most respected true crime writers.
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Well done. 5 stars.
- By robert price on 03-03-19
By: Casey Sherman
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Tokyo Underworld
- The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan
- By: Robert Whiting
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In the ashes of postwar Japan lay a gold mine for certain opportunistic, expatriate Americans. Addicted to the volatile energy of Tokyo's freewheeling underworld, they formed ever-shifting but ever-profitable alliances with warring Japanese and Korean gangsters. At the center of this world was Nick Zappetti, an ex-marine from New York City who arrived in Tokyo in 1945 and whose restaurant soon became the rage throughout the city and the chief watering hole for celebrities, diplomats, sports figures, and mobsters.
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A Man with a fork in a world of soup
- By Kindle Customer on 09-01-20
By: Robert Whiting
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Unbeaten
- By: Mike Stanton
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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From the best-selling author of The Prince of Providence comes a revelatory biography of Rocky Marciano, the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.The son of poor Italian immigrants, with short arms and stubby legs, Rocky Marciano accomplished a feat that eluded legendary heavyweight champions like Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson: He never lost a professional fight. His record was a perfect 49-0.
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Great book, terrible accents in the reading
- By Ishmael Angaluuk Hope on 11-02-21
By: Mike Stanton
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Havana Nocturne
- How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Havana Nocturne takes listeners back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Thanks to strong ties with the island's brutal dictator, President Batista, the mob soon owned the biggest luxury hotels and casinos and launched an unprecedented tourist boom. But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others.
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Not for reactionaries
- By sunsolid on 02-17-09
By: T. J. English
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great war!
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The first meeting between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden, transcended the world of sports to become a major international media spectacle with tremendous social and political overtones. Sportswriter Michael Arkush draws from interviews with Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee; his doctor, Ferdie Pacheco; and more than 100 others to examine how the fight, watched by more than 300 million viewers around the world, ushered in a new era of sports marketing. From then on, every game would be turned into an "event," powered by over-the-top hype and carefully staged pageantry.
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great narration!
- By Dustin F Lindblad on 06-12-24
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Tinseltown Gangsters
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Like sharks to blood in the water, the mob arrived in Hollywood greedy and ready to tear away huge chunks of cash. Opportunistic mobsters saw labor unions as the means for muscling into the movie industry and extorting millions of dollars from studio bosses. Control the unions to which projectionists, art directors, cinematographers, electricians, scene designers, stagehands, extras belong, and you control the whole industry.
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Five Families
- The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
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Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits.
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7326451
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Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon - Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most thrilling and ferocious boxers of all time - and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior.
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Fascinating story about a train wreck of a life
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The Boxing Kings tells the story of the heavyweight title in the days when it was a defining institution in the United States. Author Paul Beston places special emphasis on those champions who held a central place in American culture beyond just in the boxing ring, including John L. Sullivan, who made the title a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who in 1908 became the first black man to claim the title; Joe Louis, whose contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended even his greatness in the ring; and many more.
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An outstanding book on heavyweight champions
- By LSmith on 02-01-18
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The War
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The battle between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns is remembered as one of the greatest fights of all time. But in the months before the two finally collided on April 15, 1985, there was a feeling in the air that boxing was in trouble.
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great war!
- By Anonymous User on 10-30-24
By: Don Stradley
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The Fight of the Century
- Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971
- By: Michael Arkush
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
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The first meeting between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden, transcended the world of sports to become a major international media spectacle with tremendous social and political overtones. Sportswriter Michael Arkush draws from interviews with Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee; his doctor, Ferdie Pacheco; and more than 100 others to examine how the fight, watched by more than 300 million viewers around the world, ushered in a new era of sports marketing. From then on, every game would be turned into an "event," powered by over-the-top hype and carefully staged pageantry.
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great narration!
- By Dustin F Lindblad on 06-12-24
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Like sharks to blood in the water, the mob arrived in Hollywood greedy and ready to tear away huge chunks of cash. Opportunistic mobsters saw labor unions as the means for muscling into the movie industry and extorting millions of dollars from studio bosses. Control the unions to which projectionists, art directors, cinematographers, electricians, scene designers, stagehands, extras belong, and you control the whole industry.
By: Jeffrey Sussman
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Overall
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Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits.
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7326451
- By Mark on 10-13-16
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What listeners say about Boxing and the Mob
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J
- 10-09-19
Brilliant
I loved this book. It presents an objective and historically encompassing view of a fascinating, semi-hidden force, pulling the strings behind curtains that we all suspect know are there but cannot articulate clearly. The author is not pretentious or presumptive and clearly states when he doesn’t know something. I truly appreciate this account of the last century of a sport that continually influences our culture.
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- Steve Adams
- 08-18-23
A very interesting look at the sweet science of boxing an organized crime
This was a particularly interesting book. When I was younger, I was a huge boxing fan. My step grandfather used to tell me stories about gangsters like Lucky Luciano, and boxers like Jake, LaMotta and Carmen Basilio.. I think anybody with an interest in boxing, for the history of organized crime in this country would find this book as interesting as I did
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- Shinki_ryu
- 07-18-23
Very good
this book did not disappoint in any way. Very revealing . the chronology was clear and relevant to the book. the narration was spot on. Not once did the narrator annoy me or become a distraction. 5 stars from me in all categories.
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- Nicholas
- 02-17-24
The Fix is In
This is an amazing book that sheds a spotlight on some of the most fascinating stories from the darkest corners of the history of the sweet science. Any boxing or mob history aficionado will love it.
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- Lester Boggs
- 05-22-19
Great Book
Extremely well researched entertaining history of Mafia involvement in the sport of boxing, the corruption, payoffs, and of course whackings, all the usual suspects are here, Frankie Carbo, Owney Madden, and more.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Philo
- 11-05-22
Very listenable. If you like the topic, go for it!
As one might expect, at every turn there are colorful characters and tragic stories. All the familiar names are here, and well fleshed-out. You would feel you knew Arnold Rothstein, Jake LaMotta, "Mr,. Grey," and the rest, and had rubbed shoulders with them in their times and places.
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- Dawanna Lopez
- 12-30-19
Too Deep Into Mobsters background
was pretty cool book, the first hour and half or so was background syories on diferent mob guys. which is ok i guess but i wanted more boxing talk.
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1 person found this helpful
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- John Wood
- 05-19-22
Very good for the real Boxing Fan
Excellent story-telling, tho the narration was a bit stilted at times. Learned things I NEVER KNEW about folks I thought were stand-up guys. The treatment of the subject is limited by its VAST scope, but the biggest influences are dealt with well and thoroughly. For the die hard boxing fan and historian this is required reading. Now I know how and why Sonny Liston REALLY died, and the ugly truth about the Raging Bull and not-so-prime Primo. Treat yourself, it’s worth it!
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- John M. Twomey
- 01-23-23
fascinating
This book appealed to me in particular because I have a personal fascination with both boxing and the mob up until sometime in the 80s. After that, much like the world in general, I feel that both of those spheres of operation lost a lot of their grit and flavor, along with a sort of perverse romance that was attached to them.
But the stories like Jake LaMotta reluctantly taking a dive and making it obvious he was doing so so that no one would think he had actually been beaten, just to preserve his pride at losing to a lesser boxer, or poor Primo Carvera being given the championship in a series of fixed bouts because it suited his mob handlers' narrative to present him as the insurmountable giant, only to be taken down by Max Baer whose own personal pride dictated that he should not listen to the mob offers to throw the fight, are real life drama and human interest. Poor Carnera really thought he was a great fighter, watching his opponents drop like flies, until he actually faced a fighter who was there to win. It was doubly unfortunate for Primo that Baer happened to be the possessor of one of the hardest right hands in boxing history. And then of course, you get into the story of Cinderella Man Jim Braddock, who came off the bread lines and a broken-handed wreck of a career, to rise within a year to seizing the championship of the world.
Anyway, I could veer off sideways into my own personal fascination with the fight game of that era, but the point is that this book presents the story in a way which is accessible to those who come to it with no previous knowledge of the subject matter, but also digs deep enough to give people who have read and researched a bit new nuggets of knowledge to discover.
The writing is suitably bombastic when it needs to be, humorous when that serves the story, and occasionally tragic when that is the tale to be told. The narration is superb, enhancing the story without ever making itself the center of attention, and overall I give this a 5 out of 5 across the board.
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- John Jackson
- 12-30-19
okay book
the book is okay. nothing is in depth, and it is fairly scattered throughout the decades
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