He kicked things off by saying his granddad had been a professional boxer and he had kept the secret his whole life.
At my grandpops funeral, I learned that he was a professional welterweight boxer in NYC in the 40's. The question was why he never told us & how nobody knew. I continued to dig & discovered the sad reasons why. https://t.co/qwoSgbUQTu
I sat and stared at medals won and articles from my grandpops bouts in NYC in the 40's. But no one had any intel as to why his boxing career had been such a secret. I only learned the truth about 10 years ago. My grandpops passed in '88.
My grandmoms said she had no idea why my grandpops quit boxing. Only to say he told her he wanted to go to culinary school. She said he swore her to never discuss boxing again when he abruptly quit.
Until one day, the former professional boxer's brother came forward with the answers.
When my uncle (grandpops brother) got sick years ago, he told me we needed to talk. He told me that he knew why his boxing career ended the way it did.
He got excited as he talked of how my grandpops was "whooping the shit outta them white boys" in the ring. But that in itself was a huge issue for the mob and money lost when my grandpops won.
The uncle revealed that a mob was pressuring his brother to lose.
He spoke of a moment before a fight where members of the mob came into the locker room and told my grandpops that he was going to lose or else his family be in danger.
