I guess this is a question for John Garfield and others who have watched boxing long enough to be able to compare the eras. Back then, the mob controlled boxing and now its Don King, Bob Arum and increasingly GBP. Is it less corrupt now than back then when the mob was running the show or about the same?
the This content is protected has brought transparency into the business aspect into the making of a fight. it also set up rules which benefitted the fighters. i remember reading an article once where none of the current champ and their promoter/manager would give hagler a title shot. the petronelli's had to ask the washington godfather himself (tip o'neil) to twist arum's arm. it was not written in the article but o'neil probly ordered arum to relay a threat to the mobster controlling antoufermo to give marvin a shot....so they did.
I think it's about the same as it was in the last 20 years or so but now it's more of a 'professional' corruption so the public is hardly ever exposed to it.
Rotten to the core. Too many conflicting intrests. The IBC were corrupt but had a plan. Now the various promoters and sanctioning bodies all under cut each other meaning nobody gets anywhere.
I think the extent of the corruption has remained fairly constant throughout boxing history. It is only the nature of the corruption that changes. The current corruption is based around controlling promoters, overly powerful TV networks, and corrupt sanctioning bodies. To the outside eye it is more palatable than the colour bar, and more respectable than the mob. However, behind the veneer of respectability the end result is pretty much the same - terrible decisions, vested interests placed above the needs of fighters, and money counting more than ability. There are fewer quality fights being made, but on the flipside there have been significant improvements in fighter safety. As frustrating as corruption can be, hardcore boxing fans have a high bull**** threshold, and will accept a lot as long as they get a good fight once in a while.
Up until the early 80s there was still an element of "you'll go down in the 8th, or granny will need a hip replacement sooner than she'd like". This was happening more on the local and state level, but it has also been see and rumored to have happened even in world title fights. Nowadays we see Kimbo KDing a can or a clubfighter and if it looks the slightest suspicious and we immediately revert back to those days. Oh, the mob mustve been all in on the KO. That kid coulda got up before the count. I think the mob, and the high profile promoters have far better ways to make $$$, and a much larger scale than by fixing fights. And as for losing a $$$ fighter b/c he's lost.....doesnt happen as much as we make it out. For instance, Kessler has a couple Ls that coulda went his way. The Ward fight for instance couldve easily been given to Kessler via DQ, and the $$$ fighter would remain on top for the time. And guys like JCCJr are a dime a dozen. A guy like Molina could easily fill his shoes in the stable, or if they were looking for a younger, undefeated fighter, they could go down the list and find dozens in the LMW- SMW division and dig em up and build em into hypejobs, with or without a name.:bbb
it was bad back then when you had 8 champs and 6 or 7 were mob controlled rumors of an entire career being fixes and riggings to get a guy the heavyweight title in Carnera guys had to associate with the mob or play by their rules to get shots...having to take a dive to get a shot like Lamotta who even then still had to win 5 or 6 bouts after that to earn it Schmelling got screwed vs Sharkey Schmelling got over stepped by Louis when the Braddock fight was going to be made Boxing has always been corrupt id like to think its gotten better but im sure promoters or bookies or the mob get at judges and refs and try to get them to do the other guy favors
If you think boxing is more corrupt now, then you need to study in the history of boxing. Pro boxing was supported, created and financed by the mafia for decades. Even many of the beloved ATGs of the yesteryear has been associated with the mob when and if they win or lose. There where a lot more Arum's back then. And if you did not take a dive, unlike Arum, they will make you take a dive on the East River.
