Rocky Graziano, in his autobiography, "Somebody Up There Likes Me," said he was approached by a mobster (probably Carbo) to throw a fight, but didn't--and lived to tell about it. Jake LaMotta admitted to throwing a fight for the Mob. I read somewhere that Ezzard Charles, considered one of the best heavyweights of his era, totally belonged to Carbo, who allegedly paid him as little as $150 for a championship fight. Sonny Liston allegedly belonged to the Mob.
To name just a few of the prizefighters who were either owned outright or controlled by the mob, included, Billy (Blackjack) Fox, Coley Wallace, Johnny Saxton, World Champs Virgil Akins and Clarence Henry and Ike Williams (all of whom were owned by Blinky Palermo); heavyweight champ Primo Carnera (owned by Owney Madden); Kid Gavilan, Tony DeMarco, Sonny Liston (all owned by Palermo and Carbo);
I'm not sure about Ezzard (The Cincinnati Cobra) Charles, but I do seem to remember that he also controlled by them.
But these are just a few of the hundreds, probably thousands, of boxers who fell under their control over the years. As you known, Carbo and Palermo were especially notorious in this regard.
