“SLAPSIE” MAXIE ROSENBLOOM
Author’s note: I would like to personally thank boxing historians Bob Yalen, Bruce Kielty and Henry Hascup for the wonderful information they shared with me regarding “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom and his family!
Max Everitt Rosenbloom, better known to millions of boxing fans and movie goers around the world as, “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom was born on September 6, 1904 in Leonard’s Bridge, Connecticut. His father Abraham was a Russian Jewish shoemaker and his mother Rebecca was a vaudeville dancer. However, because there were six children in the Rosenbloom household, Rebecca was forced to quit her burgeoning show business career to raise her large brood. Maxie had three brothers, Herman, Sam and Sol, plus two sisters, Ann Moskowitz and Sylvia Rosenbloom. No doubt Maxie inherited his talent for entertaining, acting and dancing from his mother.
“Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom remains one of the most successful and colorful figures in all of boxing history. And yet, he is still a mystery to all boxing historians because we simply do not know how he looked when fighting inside the squared circle because apparently no film of any of his fights has every come to light. The late boxing film historian, Steve Lott, said that there may be films of some of Rosenbloom’s fights in the hands of private collectors. This requires a brief explanation.
Boxing was strictly controlled by organized crime during the era in which Rosenbloom fought. The Mob also owned the rights to ALL fight films at that time. Many of those black and white films from the first half of the 20th century were purchased by Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton for their company Big Fights Inc. These classic fights were bought from aging mobsters (in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s) looking to make a fast buck. Lott believed that there may very well be film of Rosenbloom (and Harry Greb) in action that has yet to be discovered. Almost all fight films from that era were owned by the Mob. It would not be surprising for someone to find an old film canister in their attic or basement containing film of Rosenbloom in action.
Rosenbloom was often referred to by boxing scribes of that era as a “dirty” fighter, someone who freely engaged in foul tactics against his opponents. Whether or not this is an accurate description of him is debatable as we have no film to verify such a claim. It should be noted that all top fighters back then fouled their opponents on a regular basis. They did whatever they deemed necessary to win. Also, if your opponent fouled you consistently, the best way to dissuade him from doing so was to retaliate in kind. It was a fight, not a charity dance.
Maxie was a highly skilled defensive ring master who had an innate understanding that while boxing was sport, it was also entertainment and that the fans wanted to see an exciting show along with the fight. Rosenbloom often mugged for the crowd in attendance and spoke to fans and celebrities sitting at ringside. His ring antics never took away from the immediate task at hand, which was to defeat the man in front of him that night. Rosenbloom loved to put on a show for all those customers who paid to see him.
If you mentioned Rosenbloom today to anyone other than boxing historians, his name would conjure up, if in fact it conjured up anything at all, images of his eponymous night club, where stars, mobsters, athletes, police, politicians and regular folks went to mingle, eat and enjoy the entertainment and each other. His night club didn’t last long but it sure left an indelible mark on the community. Rosenbloom was essentially a front for the nightclub that bore his name. The real owners were Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen and haberdasher to the stars, Sy Devore along with his brother Charlie.
Los Angeles mobster and friend of Bugsy Siegel, Mickey Cohen
It’s no surprise to anyone who knows their Mob history that the ultra-violent Mickey Cohen was a part owner of Slapsie Maxie’s. Every nightclub in Los Angeles, including the Brown Derby, the Cocoanut Grove and Billy Berg’s had to pay the Mob a large percentage of their gross earnings just for the privilege of running a nightclub or restaurant in Hollywood. This meant that Mickey Cohen or his rival, Jack Dragna had to get their taste of every establishment doing business in Hollywood. Mickey Cohen was backed by the powerful Luciano crime family in New York, because he had been a confidant of Ben Siegal and, frankly, because he was much more competent than the Dragnas.
Los Angeles mobster, Jack Dragna
Dragna and his brother Tom and nephew Louis also had New York Mob backing via the Lucchese crime family and Chicago mob support from The Outfit via Johnny Roselli. Dragna and Cohen fought over control of the various rackets in California, such as bootlegging, drugs, extortion, loansharking, prostitution, protection for hire and, of course, prizefighting.
Dragna and Cohen had a visceral loathing for each other. Dragna tried to kill Cohen at least a half dozen times but he failed in every attempt. The Luciano family in New York had warned Cohen that these attempts on his life were coming. Unfortunately, during the Great Depression, only organized crime had enough disposable income necessary to open nightclubs and restaurants successfully. The Mob supplied the entertainment, the food, the alcohol, the table linens and the valet parking service for Slapsie Maxie’s Nightclub. Maxie got a monthly fee for the use of his name and a small percentage of the profits. All he had to do was show up when he could, mingle with the guests, tell a few jokes, and the Mob was happy.
Mobsters were allowed to enter Slapsie Maxie’s Nightclub (and indeed all nightclubs) free of charge and, they could even do business in these joints but settling scores or violence of any kind on the premises was strictly off-limits. Any mobster who didn’t abide by that code was murdered elsewhere. The Mob was never big on second chances when it came to their own members. The Mob did not want violence in any of their clubs or restaurants because violence brought police and FBI attention, which prevented them from conducting business and making money. It also brought adverse publicity which kept famous patrons away. This rule was very strictly enforced.
Slapsy Maxie’s Nightclub in Hollywood
Rosenbloom’s life story really does appear to emanate from the pages of a Damon Runyon novel. Rosenbloom was born in Connecticut, but moved with his family to New York City when he was four years old, in 1908 because they believed, as many of their brethren did, that there were more opportunities for Jews in New York, than in Connecticut.
Rosenbloom and his siblings, like most Jews in New York at that time, experienced virulent anti-Semitism from a very young age. Rosenbloom was forced to drop out of grade school in grade three because he had punched a teacher in the mouth, knocking out two of her teeth. What did the teacher say to move Rosenbloom to violence at such a young age? She made a crack about his religion, which he did not take kindly too. He let her know that he did not appreciate her remarks by cracking her in the mush with his fists.
However, years later, Rosenbloom made light of his expulsion from school. He said, “I had to quit school in the third grade because my father was in the fourth grade and I didn’t want to pass him!” In fact, after assaulting his teacher, Maxie was sent to the Hawthorne Reform Home for Jewish Boys, for thirteen months. In order to channel his energy more productively when he was released, his well-meaning mother Rebecca enrolled him in ballet school. The move was well-intentioned but backfired. It was bad enough being called a “Dirty Jew” by Irish bullies but once they knew he was doing ballet, their taunting only intensified. Rosenbloom quit ballet school and started to lash out at his tormenters on a daily basis.
There are some fight historians who have posited the theory that Maxie likely learned gracefulness and (ring) agility while in ballet school. This is extremely unlikely. First off, he wasn’t there long enough to pick up anything of value. Rosenbloom’s ring grace and physical agility were learned through thousands of hours of hard work in the local boxing gyms of New York under the watchful eyes of two of the all-time greatest fight trainers in boxing history, Ray Arcel and Whitey Bimstein. It was Arcel and Bimstein that took a naïve, hungry young novice fighter and turned him into a dominant world champion by using his weaknesses as strengths.
The immortal boxing trainer, Ray Arcel
Rosenberg was not a hard puncher, so Arcel and Bimstein focused on his hand and foot speed and lateral movement. They told him to forget about trying to win via the knockout route; rather, win on points with speed, skill, mobility and intelligence. This was solid advice and it worked, although, like all great world champion prizefighters, Maxie’s ring style took him years to perfect.
Hall of Fame trainer, Whitey Bimstein
It’s often hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the life of Rosenbloom because he embellished so many of the stories written about him. For instance, did actor George Raft really discover Rosenbloom brawling outside a police station and then steer him into boxing? This story is likely apocryphal. Why would a vaudevillian like Raft, desperate for stage work, be hanging around a police station looking for boxing prospects? It simply makes no sense.
Raft was, however, a huge fight fan and a close friend and confident of gangster Owney “The Killer” Madden, the underworld czar who controlled professional boxing, lock, stock and two smoking barrels. Madden always had scouts at the many boxing gyms which populated New York City. It is possible that Raft, who loved to hang around pool halls and fight arenas heard about Rosenbloom from a friend.
Feral Mob Kingpin, Owney “The Killer” Madden
Raft had even boxed professionally for two years with middling success. He started at the young age of 15, which was common back in those days. His ring name was Dutch Rauft (the original spelling of his surname). Apparently, he engaged in 14 bouts with nine wins, three losses and two draws. Raft was looking for any way to make a dime. He eventually became a gifted dancer. He also owned a piece of a slew of fighters, in conjunction with his pal, Madden.
Real life gangster turned actor, George Raft
In truth, Rosenbloom entered boxing to follow in the footsteps of an older brother who took the ring name, Leonard Rose. His brother took him to the Hebrew Union Settlement House in Jewish Harlem, where he learned the rudiments of boxing. From there he went to Grupp’s gym. One day, Raft wandered into Grupp’s gym and saw Rosenbloom sparring and liked what he saw. It also didn’t hurt that Arcel and Bimstein were working with Maxie. Raft mentioned to Madden that he had seen a young boxer with some promise. Raft said all the kid needed was more seasoning and the right management (Mob connections) and he could go quite far in the fight game.
Madden had just been released from a long prison sentence and, in the midst of taking over the boxing racket, was always on the lookout for promising new fighters to add to his ever increasing stable of pugilists. Madden had the muscle, money and connections to move a fighter to the top of the profession in a very short time period. Madden took an instant liking to the affable, young pugilist and started hanging out with him. In fact, Madden, Raft and Rosenbloom often palled around together. Rosenbloom sometimes acted as a de facto bodyguard for Madden.
Madden always had a coterie of hired gunsels near him for protection but it never hurt to have a prizefighter by your side either. Sure, Madden took a piece of Rosenbloom’s earnings from the gross gate. In fact, he usually took a piece of both fighter’s earnings on every fight card in New York as well as percentages of the radio revenue and the concession stands. Madden was smart enough to share his good fortune with his allies, Frank Costello, Tommy Lucchese, Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano.
Oddly, Rosenbloom was more than just a piece of property to Madden. He was a genuine friend and anyone in organized crime that tried to intimidate Rosenbloom or his mobbed-up manager, Frank Bachman, into taking a dive, ended up dealing with the ferocious Madden. To interfere in any way with Madden’s control of boxing meant instant death for uncooperative fighters, managers, promoters and media members.
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