Was Frank Punchy Illiano a boxer? I read it somewhere that he was and that it was the reason for the nickname. Is that truth or myth?
Yes he was a boxer in his teens, he was in the Crazy Joe Gallo crew but was very close to Larry Gallo. After Joe Gallo was killed he and Albert ‘Kid Blast’ Gallo we’re absorbed into the Genovese borgata. He was close to Chin through boxing. He flew low under the radar and never caught any pinches that I know of and was supposedly highly respected. Some of my info came from DeMatteos book ‘growing up mafia’
I have a photo on my phone of Punchy and Larry Gallo as kids taken in a photobooth together. I’m not really tech savvy and don’t know how to shrink it to 200kb maybe someone else can find it on Pinterest and repost for us. Just query Larry Gallo.
