al weill, broke and allie columbo

[harrygreb]

weill was getting 50% of marcianos earnings after about his tenth pro fight
plus he wasnt paying off jim norris after he quit as matchmaker at the garden, so how come the guy wound up broke in florida at the end of his life - plus does anyone know what became of allie columbo after rocky's death?

[bennie]

Trainer Charley Goldman died November 11, 1968.
Second Allie Columbo died January 6, 1969.
Rocky Marciano died August 31, 1969.
Manager Al Weill died October 22, 1969.

In less than year, the entire Marciano corner was wiped out.

[Old bones Ian]

Trainer Charley Goldman died November 11, 1968.
Second Allie Columbo died January 6, 1969.
Rocky Marciano died August 31, 1969.
Manager Al Weill died October 22, 1969.

In less than year, the entire Marciano corner was wiped out.

time to call in the x-files

[HomicideHenry]

I recall a long time ago that Marciano retired because of Al Weil taking too much of Rocky's money and Rocky retired in the hopes that he could come back and be free from Weil and his money snatching, only to find out that Weil had written in contract that if Marciano ever retired and came back that Weil would still get a percentage---this was another reason, supposedly, that the Johansson fight never happened.

[TheRiverCityHippy]

weill was getting 50% of marcianos earnings after about his tenth pro fight
plus he wasnt paying off jim norris after he quit as matchmaker at the garden, so how come the guy wound up broke in florida at the end of his life - plus does anyone know what became of allie columbo after rocky's death?

i dont know any of the facts and figures but 50% seems an awful lot.
because he grew up in the hard depression years i heard rocky was `tight with a buck` and wasnt the type of guy who`d allow himself to be fleeced easily.
infact wasnt he almost obsessional about not being ripped off.

[Old bones Ian]

weill was getting 50% of marcianos earnings after about his tenth pro fight
plus he wasnt paying off jim norris after he quit as matchmaker at the garden, so how come the guy wound up broke in florida at the end of his life - plus does anyone know what became of allie columbo after rocky's death?

i dont know any of the facts and figures but 50% seems an awful lot.
because he grew up in the hard depression years i heard rocky was `tight with a buck` and wasnt the type of guy who`d allow himself to be fleeced easily.
infact wasnt he almost obsessional about not being ripped off.

Wasn't most of Rockys money unaccounted for at the time of his death?
I seem to recall hearing that his family were searching for years to find all of his money after his death

[harrygreb]

tight with a buck?
one evening rocky and a pal were walking around new york city when rocky saw a movie theatre showing a mario lanza picture. lanza was a favourite of the rocks and they decided to go in right up until marciano saw the billboard that told him tickets were a few cents cheaper if you came in before 1 o'clock in the afternoon. marciano decided they would see the film another time.

however, as much as he hated being ripped off he was under weill's auspices and weill was in turn under orders from jim norris who controlled all the fights in the new york area. so he really didnt have a great deal of say when it came to it. look at the time it took and the stiffs he fought while waiting for a title shot. they were going to get their moneys worth outta rocky no matter what.
i'd love to know the ins and outs of marciano's finances from his title bouts and how weill ended up broke.

[harrygreb]

thanks for the information on the deaths of rocky's corner, by the way.
remarkable how they all went so quick

[pound per pound]

tight with a buck?
one evening rocky and a pal were walking around new york city when rocky saw a movie theatre showing a mario lanza picture. lanza was a favourite of the rocks and they decided to go in right up until marciano saw the billboard that told him tickets were a few cents cheaper if you came in before 1 o'clock in the afternoon. marciano decided they would see the film another time.

however, as much as he hated being ripped off he was under weill's auspices and weill was in turn under orders from jim norris who controlled all the fights in the new york area. so he really didnt have a great deal of say when it came to it. look at the time it took and the stiffs he fought while waiting for a title shot. they were going to get their moneys worth outta rocky no matter what.
i'd love to know the ins and outs of marciano's finances from his title bouts and how weill ended up broke.

Weil was a crooked boxing manager with connections to match makers and gamblers. Weil's 50% cut on Marciano's earnings was sickening, but I suppose Weil needed to pay off the people he was connected with. The IBC at the time was crooked as a dog's back leg. It is likely that Marciano had some fixed fights on his way up the ranks.

Rocky also lost a perecntage of his puse to his trainer Goldman, and his seconds. After that Rocky had to pay Uncle Sam. It is likely that Rocky took home about 20% of his total purses.

As a business man, Marciano was a great fighter. Rocky had some bad investments. Marciano was never in dire straits after he retired, but he was not wealthy either.

At one point Marciano was eyeing comeback vs. Ingmar Johannsen who just won the championship from Floyd Patterson. Maricano wanted to comeback, but only if he could do it without his old team. Rocky wanted a chance to earn some money without the leaches sucking him dry.

However after spending some time in the gym, Marciano knew he didn't have it anymore. Rocky decided retiring un-defeated meant more to him than the cash. Bravo for him.

[harrygreb]

yeh, thats right. he had to pay weill, goldman and columbo. but then again, goldman turned him into a championship level fighter and allie was told to get off the team (against rocky's wishes) many times before finally being put on the payroll. how much did weill take from rocky's earnings from the exhibitions and appearances he did after he retired? i dont know, but i'll bet he had a contract on them too. he also signed a contract or two very early on in his pro career that went to judiciary and very nearly ruined him before getting started.
i dont doubt that a few of those early fights were dubious.
rocky was a very good friend of frank carbo and carbo maintained from prison that there was never any deals made between the boxer and himself. i wonder if rocky maybe should have used a little help from carbo to make things a bit better for himself with the weill, norris situation?