Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Fights, the Fifties
British sportswriter Mitchell offers an anecdotal survey of boxing in the 1950s, often considered the sport’s golden age. He takes a different view, however, citing the Mob’s corrupting influence on the sport during the era, both in fixing fights (“I coulda been a contenda”) and in determining who was selected to fight in Madison Square Garden, boxing’s mecca from the 1930s into the 1960s. It’s a fascinating story, full of great fighters (Robinson, Marciano, LaMotta) and the noirish characters who have always flourished on the edges of the sport, none more so than Mike Jacobs, who controlled boxing at the Garden through the 1940s and into the early ’50s. But when Jacobs’ health caused him to take a diminished role, the Mob stepped in, particularly the charming but lethal Frankie Carbo. Mitchell details Carbo’s manipulations, but, interestingly, he seems a lot more outraged by the corruption than do any of the boxing people he interviews, who largely support the golden-age theory. Either way, the book brings a colorful period in sports history to vivid life. --Bill Ott