Читать книгу Slaughter in the Streets. When Boston Became Boxing’s Murder Capital онлайн

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As boxing fever swept the city in the 1930s and 40s, Boston's underworld grew as well. In this dangerously charged atmosphere, it was inevitable that the city's boxers would intertwine with gangsters. Not surprisingly, there was an uptick in the number of local fighters getting whacked. The most famous of them was Nate Siegel, a popular welterweight from Revere who had twice fought the legendary Mickey Walker. In 1934, an assassin shot Siegel to death in his own home. Siegel owned a tavern and was believed to have come between rival liquor distributors, but no one was ever charged with his murder.

There were others: George Brogna, who fought as “Johnny DeLano,” was a twenty-six-year-old East Boston featherweight with a record of 12-9-5. He'd also been deeply involved in gangland activity and had allegedly killed a local bootlegger, “Big Mike” Richardi (who had been suspected of killing Johnny Vito). In 1933, Brogna's body was found in Revere. He'd been beaten about the head and shot three times. That same year saw the murder of Joseph Wolf, a petty criminal with gang ties who fought as “Charley ‘KO’ Elkins.” His ring resume was 15-9-2, plus seventy-two arrests and eleven appeals. He was found dead on a South End sidewalk. It was believed that the owner of a local barroom had killed him. Wolf, a thirty-four-year-old still living with his mother on Harrison Avenue, had tried to shake the owner down for “protection” money. Big mistake.