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

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As for Valenti, he'd been part of the Phil Buccola–Dan Carroll–Johnny Buckley era. At various times he was a matchmaker, an agent, a discoverer of talent, a gadfly, and a promoter. Because of his police record he spent many years without an official manager's license; he compensated by guiding a fighter's career from a backroom and using local men as fronts. By the time of his death at age eighty-three in 1986, Valenti had become a treasured local character, partly because he presented himself as an old-time operator at odds with a constantly changing world. As the Globe noted, Valenti “always looked sad because of his big eyes and drooping lids.”

But sad old Valenti had a stronger hand than anyone realized.

“Rip was well connected,” said Jerry Forte, a North End fighter who later served as the state's assistant boxing commissioner. “He was tight with Joe Lombardo, who was Buccola's right-hand man.” This, according to Forte, was why New York managers or promoters could never snatch a Boston fighter from Valenti's grasp.