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Muhammad Ali, Major Coxson, and the Mafia
BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT RANDY COOK — I never floated like a butterfly or stung like a bee, but I do have one thing in common with The Greatest. We both made Cherry Hill in New Jersey our home. Cherry Hill is a leafy suburb of Philadelphia where residents can escape hectic city life but remain within commuting distance of Philly and New York. Not much happens in Cherry Hill, but the time that Ali lived there left an indelible impression.
Ali was lured to the area by Major Coxson – “The Gangster”, as Ali referred to him. Coxson was a board member of a community group known as the Black Coalition- a civic partnership between Philadelphiaâs white business community and black leadership set up to reduce violence in the city by reducing poverty. The two met when Ali was banned from boxing and was paid to deliver a speech to the group. Â They hit it off and soon Ali was a frequent visitor to Coxsonâs home where he was duly impressed by the trappings of Coxsonâs success.
Coxson lived in a huge house in Cherry Hillâs most exclusive neighborhood and owned a fleet of luxury vehicles including a Rolls Royce, Lincoln and Jaguar. Shortly after Aliâs boxing license was reinstated, he used part of his purse from the first Frazier fight to purchase a 6600-square-foot home from Coxson. Coxson then moved a few doors away, and the two neighbors became friends.
To say Coxson was an anomaly in 1970 Cherry Hill is an understatement. His flamboyant lifestyle stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise bucolic setting. It would be much like The Wireâs Avon Barksdale living in a community of pediatricians, though his attachment to Ali gave him credibility. Coxson was even able to parlay his Ali connection into a mayoral candidacy despite having been criminally convicted for fraud and his known drug running and mafia connections,
In 1970 Coxson announced his candidacy for Mayor of Camden, New Jersey which is a short ride but a world apart from Cherry Hill. Camden was known for corrupt politics and was often referred to as the Murder Capital of the World. Ali attended some of Coxsonâs campaign events and was an ardent supporter. In fact, after Ali beat Jerry Quarry in Las Vegas, he grabbed the microphone from the ring announcer and proceeded to dedicate the victory to “Major Coxson, the next mayor of Camden, NJ.â The fight and Aliâs comments (shortly after the 31-minute mark) can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNI9KQuJxqw. Ali also introduced Coxson as his unpaid advisor before his fight with Ken Norton and mentioned Coxson when he appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
When questioned by a reporter about his criminal record, Coxson maintained that âMost politicians end up in jail, I just have a head start.â Coxson also boasted that Ali would âadd punch” to his campaign.
Unfortunately for Coxson, his mayoral campaign brought unwanted scrutiny. Though he was living the high life, no one could figure out exactly what Coxson did to support his lavish lifestyle. That drew the attention of the IRS which froze most of Coxsonâs assets and sold off his car collection as a result of unpaid taxes. During that time, Coxson purchased a tandem bicycle and could be seen dressed in a suit and bowtie getting pedaled around town by his chauffeur. Ultimately, Ali donated a Silver Rolls Royce to Coxson who then retired the bike.
It all came crashing down for Coxson on the night of June 8, 1973 – a night that lives in Cherry Hill infamy. On that night, Coxson, his girlfriend, Lois Lusby and her three children – Lita 17, Toro 14 and Lex 13 – were enjoying a quiet evening at Coxsonâs Cherry Hill residence. A Cadillac pulled up in front of the home and four men entered. They and Coxson appeared to be having a friendly conversation until it suddenly turned violent. The four men drew guns and bound Coxson, his girlfriend and the childrenâs hands and feet with neckties. They then shot Coxson, his girlfriend and two of the children in the back of the head. Thirteen-year-old Lex escaped by crashing through a sliding glass door and, with hands and feet bound, hopped to a neighborâs house where he used his head to bang on the door and gain entry. The neighbors then alerted police.
Police arrived to find Coxson dead and draped over his waterbed. Lusby and her children were rushed to the hospital. Lusby survived, but her daughter, Lita, did not. Toro survived, but was blinded in one eye. Police initially suspected that it was a robbery gone bad as Coxson was rumored to keep large amounts of cash in the house. Further investigation proved otherwise.
According to Dr. Sean Patrick Griffin, a former Philadelphia police officer and author of several books on the Black Mafia, a major source of Coxsonâs wealth was tied to his role as a broker connecting the Italian and Black Mafias. He helped broker drug deals between the factions and also helped the Black Mafia launder money through dummy corporations, much of which made its way to a mosque run by Ali’s spiritual mentor, Elijah Muhammad.
Griffinâs research also revealed that a missing shipment of heroin led to Coxsonâs demise. As the story is told, about a million dollars worth of the drug was stolen as it was being transported from the Italian to the Black Mafia. The Italian Mafia offered a $300,000 reward for the return of the drug as well as the identity of the thieves.
Coxson took the Mafia up on their offer and solicited the help of some of his Black Mafia cohorts. Coxson agreed that he would keep $100,000 of the reward and turn the other $200,000 over to his so-called subcontractors. For reasons unknown, rather than locate the shipment and the thieves, Coxsonâs henchman murdered them. As a result, the drugs were never recovered. This put Coxson in an untenable position whereby the Italian Mafia refused to pay, yet Coxsonâs hired hitmen still expected payment. Allegedly they ran out of patience.
Two suspects, Sam Christian (a founding member of the Black Mafia) and Ronald Harvey were identified as suspects by police. Harvey gained notoriety when he was found guilty of slaughtering seven people in Washington DC, a crime that included the drowning of four infants. All were members of a Sunni Muslim group that considered Elijah Muhammad and his followers in the Nation of Islam to be false prophets and accused them of harming Islam. The Hanafi murders, as they were known, occurred at a home donated by NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Harvey died in prison in 1977 while still serving his sentence for the Hanafi and Coxson murders. Christian was later convicted of shooting a New York Police Officer in the arm while robbing a Harlem record store. After being paroled for that crime in 1988, he lived a quiet life until his death in 2016. Charges against him for the Coxson murders were dropped as witnesses either could not or would not identify him.
In the aftermath of the murders, both Toro and Lex were put into a witness protection program as they recognized at least two of their attackers. In an article that appeared in the June 13, 1973, edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, staff writer Rod Nordland reported that a few weeks prior to Coxsonâs death a drug supplier notified one of his dealers to collect any money due from Coxson as he had been marked for death. That same source told the paper that there was a contract out on Aliâs life. The source claimed he was coming forward to save Ali from Coxsonâs fate. That same month, Ali abandoned the Cherry Hill home and moved back to Chicago.
Ali’s former home in Cherry Hill is now used as an Airbnb and often rented by those who want to party where Ali once lived. According to a September 6, 2019, article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the home which is nestled among multimillion dollar dwellings, rents for nearly $2000 per night, but draws ire from the neighbors because of the raucous parties it attracts. Police have been called to the location almost 100 times to address complaints. I guess itâs fair to say that, even posthumously, Muhammad Ali is still the most exciting thing to happen in Cherry Hill, NJ.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 295: Callum Walsh, Pechanga Casino Fights and More
Super welterweight contender Callum Walsh worked out for reporters and videographers at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif. on Thursday,
The native of Ireland Walsh (11-0, 9 KOs) has a fight date against Polandâs Przemyslaw Runowski (22-2-1, 6 KOs) on Friday, Sept. 20 at the city of Dublin. Itâs a homecoming for the undefeated southpaw from Cork. UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card.
Mark down the date.
Walsh is the latest prodigy of promoter Tom Loeffler who has a history of developing European boxers in America and propelling them forward on the global boxing scene. Think Gennady âTriple Gâ Golovkin and you know what I mean.
Golovkin was a middleweight monster for years.
From Kevin Kelley to Oba Carr to Vitaly Klitschko to Serhii Bohachuk and many more in-between, the trail of elite boxers promoted by Loeffler continues to grow. Will Walsh be the newest success?
Add to the mix Dana White, the maestro of UFC, who is also involved with Walsh and you get a clearer picture of what the Irish lad brings to the table.
Walsh has speed, power and a glint of meanness that champions need to navigate the prizefighting world. He also has one of the best trainers in the world in Freddie Roach who needs no further introduction.
Perhaps the final measure of Walsh will be when heâs been tested with the most important challenge of all:
Can he take a punch from a big hitter?
Thatâs the final challenge
It always comes down to the chin. Itâs what separates the Golovkins from the rest of the pack. At the top of the food chain they all can hit, have incredible speed and skill, but the fighters with the rock hard chins are those that prevail.
So far, the chin test is the only examination remaining for Walsh.
âKingâ Callum Walsh is ready for his Irish homecoming and promises some fireworks for the Irish fans. This will be an entertaining show for the fans and we are excited to bring world class boxing back to the 3Arena in Dublin,â said Loeffler.
Pechanga Fights
MarvNation Promotions presents a battle between welterweight contenders Jose âChonâ Zepeda (37-5, 28 KOs) and Ivan Redkach (24-7-1, 19 KOs) on Friday, Sept. 6, at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. DAZN will stream the fight card.
Both have fought many of the best welterweights in the world and now face each other. It should be an interesting clash between the veterans.
Also on the card, featherweights Nathan Rodriguez (15-0) and Bryan Mercado (11-5-1) meet in an eight-round fight.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. First bout at 7 p.m.
Monster Inoue
Once again Japanâs Naoya Inoue dispatched another super bantamweight contender with ease as TJ Doheny was unable to continue in the seventh round after battered by a combination on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Inoue continues to brush away whoever is placed in front of him like a glint of dust.
Is the âMonsterâ the best fighter pound-for-pound on the planet or is it Terence Crawford? Both are dynamic punchers with skill, speed, power and great chins.
Munguia in Big Bear
Super middleweight contender Jaime Munguia is two weeks away from his match with Erik Bazinyan at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. ESPN will show the Top Rank card.
“Erik Bazinyan is a good fighter. Heâs undefeated. He switches stances. We need to be careful with that. Heâs taller and has a longer reach than me. He has a good jab. He can punch well on the inside. Heâs a fighter who comes with all the desire to excel,” said Munguia.
Bazinyan has victories over Ronald Ellis and Alantez Fox.
In case you didnât know, Munguia moved over to Top Rank but still has ties with Golden Boy Promotions and Zanfer Promotions. Bazinyan is promoted by Eye of the Tiger.
This is the Tijuana fighterâs first match with Top Rank since losing to Saul âCaneloâ Alvarez last May in Las Vegas. He is back with trainer Erik Morales.
Callum Walsh photo credit: Lina Baker
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60 Years Ago This Month, the Curtain Fell on the Golden Era of TV Boxing
The Sept. 11, 1964 fight between Dick Tiger and Don Fullmer marked the end of an era. The bout aired on ABC which had taken the reins from NBC four years earlier. This would be the final episode of the series informally known as the âFriday Night Fightsâ or the âFight of the Week,â closing the door on a 20-year run. In the future, boxing on free home TV (non-cable) would be sporadic, airing mostly on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The days when boxing was a weekly staple on at least one major TV network were gone forever.
During the NBC years, the show ran on Friday in the 10:00-11-00 pm slot for viewers in the Eastern Time Zone and the âstudioâ was almost always Madison Square Garden. The sponsor from the very beginning was the Gillette razor company (during the ABC run, El Producto Cigars came on as a co-sponsor).
Gillette sponsored many sporting events â the Kentucky Derby, the World Series, the U.S. Open golf tournament and the Blue-Gray college football all-star game, to name just a few â all of which were bundled under the handle of the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. Every sports fan in America could identify the catchphrase that the company used to promote their disposable âBlue Bladesâ â âLook Sharp, Feel Sharp, Be Sharp!â — and the melody of the Gillette jingle would become the most-played tune by marching bands at high school and college football halftime shows (the precursor, one might say, of the Kingsmenâs âLouie, Louieâ).
The Sept. 11 curtain-closer wasnât staged at Madison Square Garden but in Cleveland with the local area blacked out.
Dick Tiger, born and raised in Nigeria, was making his second start since losing his world middleweight title on a 15-round points decision to Joey Giardello. Don Fullmer would be attempting to restore the family honor. Dick Tiger was 2-0-1 vs. Gene Fullmer, Donâs more celebrated brother. Their third encounter, which proved to be Gene Fullmerâs final fight, was historic. It was staged in Ibadan, Nigeria, the first world title fight ever potted on the continent of Africa.
In New York, the epitaph of free TV boxing was written three weeks earlier when veteran Henry Hank fought up-and-comer Johnny Persol to a draw in a 10-round light heavyweight contest at the Garden. This was the final Gillette fight from the place where it all started.
Some historians trace the advent of TV boxing in the United States to Sept. 29, 1944, when a 20-year-old boxer from Connecticut, Willie Pep, followed his managerâs game plan to perfection, sticking and moving for 15 rounds to become the youngest featherweight champion in history, winning the New York version of the title from West Coast veteran Albert âChalkyâ Wright.
There werenât many TVs in use in those days. As had been true when the telephone was brand new, most were found in hospitals, commercial establishments, and in the homes of the very wealthy. But within a few years, with mass production and tumbling prices, the gizmo became a living room staple and the TV repairman, who made house calls like the family doctor, had a shop on every Main Street.
Boxing was ideally suited to the infant medium of television because the action was confined to a small area that required no refurbishment other than brighter illumination, keeping production costs low. The one-minute interval between rounds served as a natural commercial break. The main drawback was that a fight could end early, meaning fewer commercials for the sponsor who paid a flat rate.
At its zenith, boxing in some locales aired five nights a week. And it came to be generally seen that this oversaturation killed the golden goose. One by one, the small fight clubs dried up as fight fans stayed home to watch the fights on TV. In the big arenas, attendance fell off drastically. Note the difference between Pep vs. Wright, the 1944 originator, and Hank vs. Persol, also at Madison Square Garden:
Willie Pep vs. Chalky Wright Sept. 29, 1944Â Â Â Â Â attendance 19,521
Henry Hank vs. Johnny Persol Aug. 21, 1964Â Â Â attendance 5,219
(True, Pep vs. Wright was a far more alluring fight, but this fact alone doesnât explain the wide gap. Published attendance counts arenât always trustworthy. In the eyes of the UPI reporter who covered the Hank-Persol match, the crowd looked smaller. He estimated the attendance at 3,000.)
Hank vs. Persol was an entertaining bout between evenly-matched combatants. The Tiger-Fullmer bout, which played out before a sea of empty seats, was a snoozer. Don Fullmer, a late sub for Rocky Rivero who got homesick and returned to Argentina, was there just for the paycheck. A Pittsburgh reporter wrote that the match was as dull as a race between two turtles. Scoring off the â5-point-mustâ system, the judges awarded the match to Dick Tiger by margins of 6, 6, and 7 points.
And that was that. Some of the most sensational fights in the annals of boxing aired free on a major TV network, but the last big bang of the golden era was hardly a bang, merely a whimper.
—
A recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling, TSS editor-in-chief Arne K. Lang is the author of five books including âPrizefighting: An American History,â released by McFarland in 2008 and re-released in a paperback edition in 2020.
—
The photo accompanying this article is from the 1962 fight at Madison Square Garden between Dick Tiger (on the right) and Henry Hank. To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
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Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser
Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser
Adam Pollack has written eleven books about boxing’s early gloved champions including a three-volume study of Jack Dempsey. Volume Three of the Dempsey trilogy (which covers The Manassa Mauler’s ring career subsequent to Dempsey-Firpo) has just been published by Win by KO Publications.
Pollack (a former prosecutor and now a practicing criminal defense attorney in Iowa) is also an accomplished boxing referee. That leads to the question: “Would he have handled matters differently had he been the third man in the ring for Demsey vs. Luis Firpo and Dempsey’s “long count” rematch against Gene Tunney?”
“Unless you’re actually in the moment,” Pollack answers, “it’s hard to know how you’d handle situations like that. And I prefer to let readers decide things on their own. I just lay out the evidence and let readers make their own judgments.”
But when pressed, Pollack offers some thoughts.
The referee for Dempsey-Firpo was Johnny Gallagher. Firpo was knocked down seven times in round one while dropping Dempsey on flash knockdowns twice. Then he knocked Dempsey through the ropes into the press secton with a hellacious righthand before being knocked out himself in the second round.
“The neutral corner rule was in existence at the time of Dempsey-Firpo,” Pollack recounts. “But it was rarely enforced at that time. There was a fair amount of criticism of Gallagher for not enforcing the rule to the extent that he allowed Dempsey to hit Firpo as soon as Firpo’s glove left the canvas rather than making Dempsey wait until Firpo was in an on-guard standing position and ready to defend himself. In fact, that criticism led directly to the rule being highlighted in the referees’ instructions before both Dempsey-Tunney fights. If I’d been the referee for Dempsey-Firpo, using the accepted 1923 standard, I would have made Dempsey take a few steps back after each knockdown and not allowed him to approach until Firpo was totally upright. But I would not have required him to go to a neutral corner.”
“As for Dempsey being knocked through the ropes,” Pollack continues, “back then, a fighter who was knocked out of the ring had ten seconds to get back in, not twenty seconds the way it is today. The consensus is that Dempsey beat the ten-count and didn’t get any help from the writers. Just because someone is pushing you off of them doesn’t mean they’re helping you.”
As for the long-count controversy in Tunney-Dempsey II, Pollack states, “There’s an argument that Dave Barry [the referee] should have picked up the count at four and not started at ‘one’ when Dempsey finally went to the far neutral corner. But Barry was within his rights to handle the situation the way he did. I could go either way on it. And people forget that Dempsey didn’t stay in the neutral corner. He was practically halfway across the ring, coming in for the kill at the count of nine, and Barry ignored it.”
Does Pollack think that Tunney would have beaten the count if he’d had only ten seconds to work with rather than fourteen?
“It’s speculation,” Adam answers. “Looking at the films, I think Tunney could have gotten up within the first ten seconds. But he probably would have been a bit dazed and more vulnerable to Dempsey’s punches.”
“Boxing is becoming a niche sport,” Pollack adds in closing. “So you have fewer and fewer people writing about boxing history today. But I love the research. I love the learning. There are always surprises. The surprises are part of the fun for me. And I love taking readers back in time so they can relive the eras I’m writing about. I put a lot of time and effort into these books. I know there are people who appreciate them, and that’s very gratifying to me. I’m not the one to judge, but I think my books will stand the test of time.”
Yes, they will.
***
SOME WORDS OF WISDOM FROM TRAINERS
Teddy Atlas: “Boxing has its share of beautiful stories. But it has sad ones too.”
Charlie Goldman: “I always say to my guys, ‘Don’t tell ’em. Show ’em.'”
Willie Ketchum (who trained world champions Jimmy Carter, Antonio Cervantes, Lou Salica, Davey Moore, and Lew Jenkins): “They always quit at the wrong time. When it’s too late, they see the light.”
Donald Turner: “Thereâs a lot of bad people in boxing. And those people should know what kind of person I am. I live an honorable life. When Iâm wrong, I admit it and apologize for what I did. But Iâll get in your face if I think youâre wrong. And Iâll come at you with a baseball bat if you try to take whatâs mine.”
And then there’s the standard reply that Hall of Fame trainer Ray Arcel gave whenever he was asked about boxing’s many ills: “It was ever thus.”
***
On August 24, a faded, stained, gray flannel shirt sold at auction at Heritage for $24,120,000.
Before you check your closet to see if you have any faded, stained, gray flannel shirts, keep in mind that we’re talking about the jersey Babe Ruth is believed to have worn when he hit his famed “called shot” home run off Chicago Cubs pitcher Charlie Root in the 1932 World Series.
I say “believed” because the jersey has been examined by several respected photomatching authenticators. One of them – Resolution Photomatching – examined the jersey on three separate occasions and each time declined to confirm a match. When Resolution Photomatching went public with its reservations, Chris Ivy (director of sports auctions for Heritage) declared it âunfortunate that a company like Resolution would want to come out and say something like that.”
In recent years, game-worn attire has become increasingly popular among collectors. In 2022, Sotheby’s sold the jersey that Michael Jordan wore in Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Championship Finals for $10.1 million. That same year, the jersey Diego Maradona wore when he scored his “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup brought in $9.3 million.
The Babe Ruth jersey in question was sold at auction in 1999 at a time when it was described simply as a game-worn Babe Ruth road uniform. The price was $284,000. Six years later – with the “called shot” designation added to the description – it sold at auction for $940,000. Now the same jersey has sold for twenty-five times its 2005 price.
How do boxing trunks and robes stand up against these numbers?
Far behind.
Craig Hamilton is the foremost boxing memorabilia dealer in the United States. Asked about robes and trunks. Hamilton says that the most valuable piece of fight-worn memorabilia known to exist is the robe that Muhammad Ali wore when he reclaimed the heavyweight throne from George Foreman in Zaire. It sold at auction for $157,000 in 1997 and, in Hamilton’s view, would bring several million dollars today.
“You have to remember;” Hamilton adds, “in 1997, sports memorabilia sales were fueled by collectors. Now the market is driven by investors. They might be fans too. But no matter how much they spend, the biggest spenders have their eye on the longterm bottom line.”
And by the way; Babe Ruth loved boxing. He was a regular at ringside for big fights. There are numerous photos of Ruth in boxing poses (sometimes with his hands gloved) and also photos of Ruth with Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. When the Boxing Writers Association of America (then known as the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York) held its first annual dinner at the Hotel Astor on April 26, 1926, The Babe was there.
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book â MY MOTHER and me – is a personal memoir available at Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/My-Mother-Me-Thomas-Hauser/dp/1955836191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5C0TEN4M9ZAH&keywords=thomas+hauser&qid=1707662513&sprefix=thomas+hauser%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1
         In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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