Frank Palermo

Frank "Blinky" Palermo was a boxing promoter best known for for fixing the Jake LaMotta-Billy Fox fight in 1947. An associate of the Philadelphia crime family, Palermo also was involved in the numbers racket.^[1]

Sonny Liston

By 1959, Blinky and his partner, Mafiosi Frankie Carbo owned a majority interest in the contract of heavyweight boxer Sonny Liston, who went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship in 1962. From the star of his pro career in 1953, Liston had been "owned" by St. Louis mobster John Vitale, who continued to own a stake in the boxer. At the time Palermo and Carbo acquired their interest in Liston, the notorious Carbo - a soldier in New York's Lucchese Family who had been a gunman with Murder, Inc. - was imprisoned on Riker's Island, having been convicted of the undercover management of prize-fighters and unlicensed matchmaking.

According to both FBI and newspaper reports, Vitale and other mobsters "reportedly controlled Liston's contract",^[2] with Vitale owning approximately twelve percent.^[3]

Senate investigation

Following his release from jail in 1960, Carbo was subpoenaed to appear before a Senate investigation committee to testify on his involvement in professional boxing. Carbo took the Fifth Amendment 25 times. Palermo and Vitale also appeared before the Committee and pleaded the Fifth."Charles "Sonny" Liston Memorandum, May 1, 1962.". Retrieved July 18, 2011.

Conviction

The following year, Palermo and Carbo and Palermo, along with Los Angeles mobsters Joe Di Sica and Louis Dragna, were charged with conspiracy and extortion against National Boxing Association Welterweight Champion Don Jordan. After a three month trial, in which U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy served as prosecutor, Carbo and Palermo were sentenced to 25 years ^[4] in prison. </ref>

Liston fought 12 fights under the control of Carbo and Palermo. At the very time Liston was climbing the ranks and positioning himself as the #1 contender, his "silent partners" were under siege by law enforcement to clean up pro boxing.

^ "BLINKY PALERMO, MOBSTER WHO RAN BOXING DIES!". Ring Talk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
^ Associated Press. "Probers Search for Underworld Ties with Boxers, undated newspaper clipping. FBI file" Retrieved July 18, 2011.
^ Picou, Tommy. "The Sonny Liston Story: He Always Had Cop Trouble." Chicago Daily Defender, September 11, 1962, pp. 22
^ A Report on Chicago crime. Chicago Crime Commission (1961) pg.67

[1] "BLINKY PALERMO, MOBSTER WHO RAN BOXING DIES!". Ring Talk. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

[2] Associated Press. "Probers Search for Underworld Ties with Boxers, undated newspaper clipping. FBI file" Retrieved July 18, 2011.

[3] Picou, Tommy. "The Sonny Liston Story: He Always Had Cop Trouble." Chicago Daily Defender, September 11, 1962, pp. 22

[4] A Report on Chicago crime. Chicago Crime Commission (1961) pg.67

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