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

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One thing that didn't change was the continuous melding of boxers and wise guys. You could tell where fighters stood in the Mob's pecking order by the jobs they were given: driver, bodyguard, doorman at a Mob restaurant. What brought so many of Boston's fighters into the criminal life? Was it because boxing itself requires a certain cold-bloodedness, which translates well to gangland activities? Was it unavoidable in a compact city such as Boston? When asked how it was so easy for these fighters to get involved with criminals, retired New England welterweight Eddie Grenke said simply, “neighborhood friends.”

Eddie Spence, a popular Boston fighter of the 1960s, recalled a rather dark element that hovered around the boxing scene: “I would see semi-literate criminal types around the gyms,” he said. “I remember a fellow who claimed to be Silverman's friend. Out of the blue he tells me that he has a beef with some guys. Then he shows me a handgun. He says, ‘I plan to get them before they get me.’ My manager told me to relax, but I was looking for the escape hatch.”