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

31 страница из 34

Boston's run as a successful boxing market continued until the establishment of the International Boxing Club in 1949. The IBC, headed by James Norris with Carbo as his unofficial matchmaker and “convincer,” quickly grabbed the contracts of the day's top fighters, tied up television coverage, and brought fights to New York, or to cities where the wealthy Norris owned pieces of venues. Boston was out of the IBC loop. (That a few marquee names fought DeMarco in Boston has been attributed to Valenti's connection to Carbo.) In 1957, Silverman cited an illegal restraint of trade and sued the IBC for nine million dollars. The out-of-court settlement—for much less than nine million dollars—made Silverman look like a tough businessman but didn't help Boston in terms of hosting important fights.

The courts eventually dissolved the IBC, but former IBC president Truman Gibson told Senate investigators in 1960 that the Boston trio of Silverman, Valenti, and Johnny Buckley had been under Carbo's control all along. The stunned trio insisted their interaction with the former Mob killer was minimal, but Gibson's bombshell had made their reputations wobble. They recovered, but despite the dismantling of the IBC, Boston continued to struggle. By the late 1960s, Boston had dried up as a major fight town.