Interesting looking at the Mayweather Pacquiao fight, huge, huge event for celebrities,high rollers, businessmen etc. Only the most VIPs could really get tickets.
A fight like that, 50 years ago I bet there would be wiseguys all over it, ringside seats, free tickets etc etc. Now? I bet not one in attendance. I guess even up to the 1980s mob guys would be out in force at Leonard, Hagler and Hearns fights. Since then I guess they can't get in (banned from Vegas) or don't want to be seen there. Anyone heard of big guys from the modern era at say Tyson fights or more current??

If you get on the gaming boards exclusion list which most of those convicted felons are, its tough to be in casinos in vegas and AC, but ya you are right with the big fights in the past

why so they can get pointed out

"there goes the boss of the columbos sitting next to jay z"

would be on the commentary

The overall percentage of wiseguys to wiseguys in the "Black Book" is EXTREMELY minimal. Look it up, it's all public record. It's more a matter of the mob having its hooks in boxing being a thing of the past.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a dirty game. But it's not corrupted by WISEGUYS like it was in the past. Today it's the corporations doing the dirty work .

Also, this was the most expensive boxing match every with bootleg tickets going for a quarter mill. So there's another way it's different than 50 years ago.

Boxing is a dirty business from the Don Kings and arums of the fight world...and you are spot on I mean you had 2 guys make $100 million each to dance around and not get hurt, sad boxing is so shady from ali-liston to today....hagler-hearns, and leonard-hearns, duran, etc were some epic fights but those fighters got screwed in dollars from the promoters and shady people involved back then

and I hear ya PB with ol vegas and the fight game..and on your point i think an UC FBI agent got someone in the philly family on tape in a vegas casino talking about the philly rackets in the past 5-7 years

Hagler's one of my five favorite fighters of all time. But the Petronelli brothers (his trainers) had DEEP street connections. From Boston all the way to 116th Street in East Harlem. And you know I never exaggerate when it comes to the Old East Harlem.

They were good guys, though. They just happened to be connected to people who went all the way back to the Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo days. I've heard that even after Eddie Coco retired to Florida that he was still in Boston every so often to watch Hagler train.

And if you don't recognize those names, do me a favor and just Google them. I don't have the time right now and my Dad's in a mood .

im glad I didn't pay over a hundred bucks to watch that dud. in my day you could watch a fight free on television, or watch it the next week on "wide world of sports"

nowadays only the rich celebrities can afford to see one,and the heavyweight champion is Russian, so I could care less, and i used to be a great fan, until i got priced out.

besides, if rocky Marciano were in his prime he would have put that Russian to sleep in the first round.

and Carmen basilio would have killed mayweather.

Ummmm. There were some there. They just fly under the radar these days. As much as we can. And no pictures are taken in public.

As Pizzaboy said...not many are/were in the 'black book'

u have to out box mayweather, and i don't know if anybody can out think him n the ring

BC,

You bringing up Marciano reminds me of this spoof I saw the other day of the barbershop scene in Coming to America.



It was used as a promo to Mayweather/Pac-Man fight...

Pizza,

the Hagler /Leonard fiasco....is what was the beginning of the end for the semi-boxing fan. The shady decisions, tomfoolery, and nonsense , though part of boxing's history....just became too much beginning with that night.

Sugar Ray was the articulate, photogenic boxer that brought in the mainstream audiences so he gets the decision...by dancing around.

I like Sugar Ray but never have I wanted somebody's head knocked off their shoulders more than in that fight.

agree with binnie, no way mayweather beats carmen basilio
or emile griffith pre benny kid paret, nor sugar ray robinson . 3 great welterweights. all of whom also made it as middleweights

The real power player in boxing at the moment is al haymon. Don't know too much about him but he represents a lot of boxers and is behind a lot of the tv deals and big fights.

He doesn't seem like a don king type of person.

Gotta ask.

As much as he reveled in the limelight, was there a famous fight that John Gotti was seen at?

There were a lot of marquee fights in Atlantic City during Gotti's era.

you bet, faffy, you bet.

He beats Basilio but not the other two.

I wonder who had knowledge of the injuries,I can remember back in the day that stuff and even race horses health would start the phone ringing.
I can only say someone made a lot of money,along with the fighters...

Not a big fight. But not long before his son got married (April of 1990), he and his entourage were at the Razor Ruddock-Michael Dokes fight at the Garden. Dokes was a shot fighter by that time, and I honestly thought for a split second that Ruddock killed him. And I mean that.

Anyway, Gotti and his boys got a brief ovation by the guys in their section and took off right after the fight. I remember that fight and Gotti being there very clearly.

Don't get it twisted. Haymon is corrupt, you don't get into a position of that power, wealth & influence without being corrupt in boxing, sadly. you're right though, he's the dominant player in boxing, he has $300 million to spend over the next 3 years. He's bankrolled by some seriously rich people.

Mayweather wouldn't have been able to live with a ton of fighters in past years. The worst match up stylistically for him would be Tommy Hearns, Hearns would destroy him in a few rounds, he'd be outgunned in literally every department. Duran would have killed him at Lightweight, Robinson, Leonard, Gavilan, Whitaker (at Lightweight) Wilfred Benitez, Griffith, Kid Lewis, Napoles the list goes on, they'd all have beat Mayweather.

no way , shape, or form he beats basilio. basilio beat some great fighters in 2 different weight classes. including sugar ray robinson , tony demarco, ike williams, johhny saxton. he was always in great shape, had the toughness, and the heart of a lion.

yes, basillo had a bigger heart than any fighter, his heart was as big as marcianos, and never forget he beat sugar ray robinson with one eye, and, robinson was so great hardly anyone could beat him with 2 eyes.

robinson closed one of basillos eyes in the 4th round, I believe and still defeated robinson.

mayweather came along at a time when all the great ones were gone.

Anyone remember Dwight Braxton vs. Matthew Saad Muhammad fight at the Playboy Hotel & Casino in AC 12/19/81 Howard Cosell was doing the fight live and Nicky Scarfo and entourage sittng ringside.

Mayweather clearly scored more points and out boxed Pacquiao. Am i happy with the fight? No, but then again these guys are in their upper 30's .
As far as Leonard and Hagler, i watched that fight about 20 times and each time i had Leonard winning by a point. He won. Why didnt Hagler apply more pressure and hit Leaonard more? Because Leonard kept moving and avoided getting hit, when they clashed, Leonard threw a flurry and scored, Hagler couldnt do anything.

I think Floyd is a very smart fighter, and people shouldn't hate on him (as a fighter.) This is a dude who is going to get out of the game looking ok and physically pretty decent. Sure we want to see action fights, but were not the one's taking those punches. He has found a way to win every fight so far without taking much punishment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=396c6NrTjLQ

Hagler talked like a white street guy from Brockton.

mayweather would fight different if he was in that era and he'd still be a champ

would he be undeafeated.........FUCK NO......but he's not a chump

Thanks
That might have been one of the only big fights that took place in the Garden, in his era.. unless I'm forgetting. In my question, I forgot to factor in that South Jersey (AC) wasn't in Gotti's "realm"...Didn't make sense for me to assume that he would be front and center in a big fight in somebody else's realm.

People forget that Gotti was like a folk hero in this area..across age, ethnic and color lines...Some of it was people being distanced from the reality of what was going on....but people LOVED Gotti.

Would you believe that I had a friend in MSG at the OTHER memorable fight night years later.....when Riddick Bowe's Brooklyn goons started the brawl.

No disrespect to Brooklyn.....but the next sport team that lands there should truly reflect the nature of that borough and just call themselves the "Brooklyn Trouble Makers"

*I'm a former NJ Nets fan STILL upset about the team relocating to BK...so anybody else reading this , relax....just jokes...

Hilarious.