Anybody can be a tough guy sneaking up behind you and putting two behind your ear.

But how many of these guys (the younger generation) could actually fight. No pipes, chains, just a good old fashioned ass kicking.

I know Gotti Sr. and probably John Alite could kick some serious ass. And some of those Bath Ave. kids were tough especially Tommy "TK" Reynolds.

But what about all these fat ass guys who couldn't run half a block? Phil Leonetti never struck me as a real tough guy. I'm sure that guy who sells cars now from Philly, he seems like a real bad ass.

But who were some of the legendary tough guys with just their fists? No bats, pipes or guns.

Thanks,

Sal

Patsy Parello was supposed to be real tough...as well as Paciello.

Tommy Pitera

I guess that roy demeo, the chin (who was a boxer), crazy joe gallo, scarfo.

Trust me when i say Charlie White.

Do you mean JohnJohn Veasey? That guy is no joke. Before he flipped, some of John Stanfa's top guys ambushed him, and he survived being shot three times in the fucking HEAD; stabbed one of the guys who shot him, then ran down the street and told someone "call me an ambulance."

Gennaro Licciardi aka the money was stabbed 16 times by NCO men but he managed to take rid of them.

Thanks fellas,

Yeah John Veasy, thats the guy. I knew they shot him three times in the head. There are a few youtubes of him selling cars now.

He still looks like he could kick some ass.

Snakes- you seem to know everything about the philly guys. Was Leontti a tough guy? what about Skinny Joey?

Now there is difference between having balls and a cool head, like say walking into a crowded place a shooting somebody.

I'm talking about throwing hands in the street, no guns, chains pipes, bats etc.

I was a very bad kid in school. I was thrown out at 15 in the 10th grade. I would fight if I had to, you couldn't be all talk or you would be picked on endlessly, but I was no where near the toughest guy. Some of the smallest littlest guys I knew were TOUGH. I once watched a little Irish kid beat the living shit out of four Black guys. This was when the schools had recently been integrated so there was a lot of racial shit going on all the time.

Stupid fucking courts bused these poor little black kids 10 miles to a white school and did the same to the white kids. I was lucky I could walk to school most of the time, but my poor sister got bused to an all black school. It wasn't so much that she had to go to a black school (she went with a ton of other white kids) it was all the time she had to spend on an un air conditioned bus. School got out at 3 she didn't get home till after 5. And there was a school right down the street she could have walked to.... ahh the 1970's...

Sal

What about Corky Vastola?

Anthony mad dog dipasquale- philly

Somebody said Roy Demeo.

Theres a few pics of him in one of those "wife beater" tee shirts. He looks like a big piece of chewed bubble gum.

I know he was deadly for shooting unsuspecting victims in the head, but like I said in a fist fight???

I know Sammy the Bull was tough. He used to take boxing lessons from Mike Tysons ex trainer Teddy Atlas.

Lots of these guys were good with small weapons, but how good of a fist thrower was a guy like say Mike Franzese in his prime? No doubt his Father was a major bad ass.

I'll tell you one bad ass was Jimmy Burke. I personally know a guy who caught a beating from him. Said he was so fast he didn't know what happened. Jimmy was on top of him wailing. Broke his nose, and took many stitches. Yeah, Jimmy Burke.

Gerrard pappa, gravano friend. jimmy emma, john gotti, frank decicco. Big dom trinchera was a big strong guy. Sonny red Indelicato. Al capone, Carmine persico, allie boy persico, anthony casso, Joseph Testa and anthony senter, etc. Those are some of the guys known to be tough and good street fighters and have been in fighting gangs. There are manny more

Big Sal Miciotta could knock out a roomful of guys

Abit off topic and questionable if OC related- but the morrocan brit who carried out the world's biggest heist at time "lightning lee Murray". He fought once in the UFC and couldn't go back stateside due to visa issues stemming from beating a fellow motorist who tried to attack him- into a coma

I've been told firsthand accounts from people who saw him knock out a team of bouncers single handedly

Leonetti was never a street fighter, he got tapped out by that black prisoner had someone not jumped in to save him

Willie Marshall

Harry Riccobene was a munchkin but maybe Pound4Pound the toughest guy out there. He fought off a guy with a gun more than half his age and chased him off.

He had to be tough too, otherwise they wouldn't have taken him seriously because of his size. The man was made before he was even 18 years old.

Salvi,

I know the picture of De Meo you are on about.

I think he looks strong as an ox in that pic.

Yeah, the one with his kid. I'll have to look at that one again.

I bet Willie Boy Johnson could kick some ass. I know he was an informant and all, but such a shame that a real tough guy gets shot in the back.

The whole point of the thread was that you always read that this guy or that guy has 23 hits or 35 hits etc. and hes a "feared" enforcer. But if you have the balls, how hard is it to sneak up behind some unsuspecting person and shoot them with a silencer?

I own guns and go to the range now and then. Pulling a trigger is not hard.

To all who answered, thank you. I know many of these guys came up in gangs and really were tough street fighters. I was talking about the Phil Leonetti's and Mikey Franzese's. Makes you wonder if they were ever even in a fight in school because everybody was so afraid of their family relations.

Thanks,
Salvi

there are made guy, young guys today that never had a fight .true statement

How can anyone go through there teens let alone life without having a fist fight?

disgrace , family right of passage.

Gentleman
I have to be honest, i dont know how many mob guys are truely good fighters, thats a big misconception.
The mafia was organized and instilled terror. Thats how they flourished.
I mean think about it, did anthony casso or john gotti have good jabs , good uppercuts, and great left hooks??? Lol think about that.

Tony "Roach" Rampino from the Gotti family. Gotti used him to dish out beatings. I do suspect that as he became more addicted to heroin he probably lost that magic

Well yeah most of the lcn members only know to make money, not to fight.

[quote=alexandarns Big dom trinchera was a big strong guy. [/quote]

Mob lawyer Murray Richman said he saw Trinchera throw a guy through a jukebox!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWSzGbadGBA

Mob lawyer Murray Richman said he saw Trinchera throw a guy through a jukebox!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWSzGbadGBA[/quote]

Yes, I saw it too. He was a real tough guy, and strong. He was apparently the one who charged his killers the night the 3 capos were killed. He didnt scare easy.

I can't say for certain but I would assume that the perna kids are fairly tough especially Johnny I heard he's a fucking maniac.. and I know his brother joe was like a state champ wrestler in high school.. most wrestlers are pretty tough guys it's a tough sport.. for the new younger guys I would say Johnny perna.. he's built like a fucking brick house too. 'Not sure how tall he is but he's roided. On his prison info shit it had has weight at 235 I think and he's not chubby like his brother joe

If he was a state wrestling champ you can assume that he's pretty tough and can take out the average dude under a minute. Guys like that double leg ya and slam you on your head before your brain even has a chance to register it.

Joe P was not a wrestler. John was a 101 pounder i believe. He is over 200 today.

John Perna is as tough as they come! He was a state champion HS wrestler for Belleville HS, wrestled Division I in college at Seton Hall, and when he was at Seton Hall used to grab a few of his frat brothers to go into the projects of Newark to rob drug dealers. He's tough and crazy....