Yes. Gotti took a beating. So what. He was an old(ish) man at the time.
No matter how tough you are, there is always someone tougher out there.
I don't get in fights but the one time I took a beating, I was being scratched by a chick and while I was gentlemanly not putting my hands on her, the guy she was with opportunely sucker punched me in the face.
So lesson 1 is don't let women assault you and lesson 2, if someone is squaring up to you and talking crap, don't take too long to analyse the situation like I did. Just incapacitate them straight away.
Can't be diplomatic. There is no honour in fighting anymore. Like there was in the old days (probably).
No shame in that but the praise he got for whacking McBratney was overblown. What a lovely man he was you think Gotti could have taken him on his own?
No chance. It took four of them to drag him across one side of the bar to the other I maintain McBratney would have wiped Gotti's clock if they were standing toe to toe.
The thing about most of these LCN guys is that they are basically just average Joe's with a lot of organizational muscle behind them; meaning, they are powerful and feared because they are part of a violent criminal organization that has been in existence for nearly 100 years. But you take the average mob guy out of his element, and what do you have: just a guy. A lot of people think that being a mobster in and of itself magically raises a guy's 'tough guy' factor ten-fold; that an out of shape, middle-aged, untrained 'wise guy' will all of a sudden turn into a ninja throwing kicks and leg sweeps when in a physical confrontation.
These guys get by on intimidation and fear, but most of the time, that intimidation and fear isn't because of some great fighting skill or physical toughness.
I think your average street gang member is probably a bigger physical threat than most of your average made guys, mainly because they tend to be younger, fitter, and more volatile.
Sitting around in social clubs, drinking espresso and smoking cigars, isn't good preparation for fighting. But of course there are some strong, capable guys in the mob, as there are in any criminal organization, but I doubt those guys are the norm.
And Gotti was so used to being the 'big man' and barking out orders that he probably still had that 'boss mentality' where his word was KING.
