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

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Even if a fellow had boxed only a few times in the amateurs or in the Navy, the term “ex-boxer” was jammed into these gruesome stories as often as possible. A mere thirty years later, the opposite would be true. When Leon Easterling fatally stabbed Harvard football star Andrew Puopolo in Boston's Combat Zone in 1976, Easterling's past as a professional boxer was never mentioned in the media's massive coverage of that case—but in the 1940s, the term had juice. The term conjured up stinking gyms, smoky arenas, violence, gambling, and a hint of corruption. Newsroom editors never hesitated to exploit boxing's dark and degenerate aura, especially since the sport had thrived in Boston during the war years.

Though the rest of the country noticed a drop in boxing attendance during the war, Boston promoters observed a sudden spike in ticket sales. New York remained the premier boxing city, but Boston enjoyed an unexpected wartime boom. Stars such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Fritzie Zivic, Ike Williams, and Henry Armstrong began to fight there with regularity Featherweight champion Willie Pep came to Boston twice in 1943 to fight East Boston's great featherweight Sal Bartolo. Even heavyweight champion Joe Louis, the most revered fighter in the world, arrived in Boston in December of 1940 to beat Al McCoy at the Garden. From 1942 to 1945, the city hosted an average of one boxing show per week, a chaotic pace that would never again be matched.