Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Mafia and an Ill-Fated Prizefighter [Hardcover]

Ron Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0312306385 | ISBN-13: 978-0312306380 | Edition: 1st

A tough kid with a heart of gold, Al "Bummy" Davis grew up in the streets of Brownsville, New York on the fringes of the Jewish mob during the 20's and 30's-thanks to his older brother, a feared racketeer. But as much as he resisted the underworld of Murder, Inc. by becoming a championship fighter and a Brownsville hero, he never did escape the Jewish Mob's shadow. Though he repeatedly stood up to mob kingpins, Bummy suffered a spectacular fall from grace as a result of a smear campaign by the press.

Ron Ross' Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc. is not just about one Jewish boxer, his meteoric rise to fame, and victimization by the press. Bummy's life was intertwined with the Great Depression, the survival of the Brooklyn Jewish immigrant population during Prohibition, and the inevitable offshoot of Prohibition-Murder Inc., one of American history's most notorious band of killers. Ron Ross portrays an important historical time period, an enigmatic Jewish subculture, and the surprising juxtaposition of a generation of Jews and their talent for boxing.

Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc. features a cast of colorful villains whom you'll love to hate, a boxing legend who was the unwitting pawn of fate, and the human drama of the boxing world. With his vivid, street-smart Damon Runyonesque writing style, Ron Ross redeems a tragic hero who fought the pull of one of the most brutal groups of killers to grace the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ron Ross. St. Martin's, $26.95 (400p) ISBN 0-312-30638-5Humming with wisecracks and crowded with oddball characters and lovable cranks, this mesmerizing anecdotal history rewrites the maligned legend of Jewish prizefighter Al "Bummy" Davis. Born Albert Abraham Davidoff in 1920, Davis was a plucky young street scrapper who rapidly became one of the most brash and charismatic boxers of his generation. With a devastating left hook and irrepressible chutzpah, Davis won many of his professional fights and nearly all of the hearts in Brownsville, the once infamous Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. Home to Abe "Kid Twist" Reles and "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss, two of the Jewish mob's most feared henchmen, Brownsville was where lighthearted kvetching and the shouts of pushcart vendors faded into the muffled screams of the mafia hit. In the hands of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and "Big Al" Anastasia, Murder Inc. turned the business of crime into a vast, well-oiled enterprise. As the younger brother of Willie Davidoff, one of Buchalter's trusted bagmen, Davis never escaped his brother's shadow and the tabloids had a field day painting him as a dirty, low-life thug. To Ross, a former professional boxer and fight promoter, the story of Bummy Davis is inseparable from that of Depression-era Brooklyn, where the mob was still in its infancy and people were in desperate need of a champion. Having scoured the memories of Brownsville natives and boxing associates for scraps of stories, Ross stitches them together with wonderfully imagined scenes and crackling dialogue. Although the book is wreathed in the golden halo of nostalgia, Ross writes with the flair and spellbinding magnetism of a natural storyteller. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Advance Praise for Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.:

"You don't have to be a fight fan to enjoy Bummy Davis vs. Murder Inc., or even remember the riveting career of Bummy Davis, the ill-starred little Jewish boxer from Brownsville. Ron Ross tells an intense personal story with a powerful sense of social history about the Jewish mob world of the 20's-30's that makes this labor of love one of the most gripping reads in years."
-Budd Schulberg, author of On the Waterfront and Sparring With Hemingway: And Other Legends of the Fight Game

"My heartfelt thanks to Ron Ross for bringing excitement back into my reading time. I couldn't separate myself from Bummy Davis vs. Murder Inc."
-Angelo Dundee, trainer of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard

"A generation before Mike Tyson emerged from the poverty of Brownsville, Al 'Bummy' Davis came off of the same violent streets to electrify boxing fans with a lights-out punch and a wild-child style. With this compelling book, Ron Ross tells the tabloid tale of this Hebrew brawler with astonishing detail and a sense of history.

In the end, Bummy Davis probably died a hero, trying to stop a bar stick-up, because underneath it all he had the hero's fearless heart. This is a terrific, truthful book."
-Jack Newfield, author of Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King and Robert F. Kennedy: A Memoir

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312306385
• ISBN-13: 978-0312306380
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,249,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Human Interest Story, February 10, 2004

By 

Steve Basile (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Mafia and an Ill-Fated Prizefighter (Hardcover)

You don't have to be a fan of boxing to enjoy this book. It is more of a human interest story than anything else. Once you start reading this book, you will find it very difficult to put down. As you are reading this book, you feel like you are transformed back to Brownsville, Brooklyn with all of the characters and living in that time period. Congratulations to Ron Ross for his hard work and research of an ill-fated boxer who had a heart of gold and got a bum rap from the press and the media. This book is simply a must read for everyone who enjoys reading.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Depression era Brooklyn, February 5, 2004

By 

Cory D. Slipman (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Mafia and an Ill-Fated Prizefighter (Hardcover)

Ron Ross' dazzlingly descriptive biographical novel does a wonderful job in the recreation of the Brooklyn Jewish ghetto of Brownsville during the throes of the Great Depression. Ross exhaustively researched his material to give us a feel for the sights, sounds, smells of the crowded, sometimes squalid tenement that Brownsville was, complete with Yiddish expressions and verbiage common for the time.

Brownsville spawned both Murder Inc., the Jewish Mafia, and Albert Abraham Davidoff, better known as Bummy Davis, a dynamic lightweight boxing contender with a thunderous left hook. Murder Inc. was headed by Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. He used local Jewish thugs such Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss and "Buggsy" Goldstein to enforce policies
of protection, loan sharking, extortion, prostitution, and bootlegging. They terrorized the community using murder to keep everyone in line.

Davis, whose dad was a local merchant, had an older brother Willie who was a Lepke henchman. Davis who was a loyal, thoughtful, industrious and respectful guy, could never shake a negative image brought about by the exploits of his brother. After working as a fruit peddlar from a pushcart at the tender age of 10, he soon discovered that his fighting skills learned on the streets could be honed into productive boxing skills.

He turned professional at 16 lying about his age and became a money making prize fighter with exceptional skills. He used his money to buy his parents a home and refused to be controlled by the mobsters in cohoots with Murder Inc.

The story goes on to chronicle both the rise anf fall of the Brownsville Jewish mafia. Unfortunately the storied life of Bummy Davis was also abbreviated. At the tender age of 25 having retired from boxing due to the rampant corruption and prejudices that existed and about to begin a new career, he was gunned down in a bar room stick up trying to protect his friends.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece About One Tough Jew, October 14, 2005

By 

Brian Schiff "jaywilton" (Detroit Mi. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Mafia and an Ill-Fated Prizefighter (Paperback)

Ron Ross masterfully recreates the world of the "Brownsville Bum"-which is how WC Heinz referred to Albert Davidoff in his
well known sports story.Ross takes Bummy-who Ring Magazine rated 54th of boxing's 100 best lb. for lb. punchers of all time-to
the next level,in quite possibly the best "factional novel" ever
written-at least about boxing,gangsters and Brownsville,Brooklyn
in a world that dramatically changed in 1945,when Bummy's life ended trying to prevent a bar holdup with his fists.And Davis
also didn't take any crap from Murder Incorporated either;Ross
beautifully recreates the scene in which the leaders of Murder
Inc. drive up to Davis after a fight they lost money on-and Davis drops his gym bag,ready to kayo all of them in the street;this showdown finally gave people the courage to testify against Murder Incorporated in court.The final bar showdown-if this gets to the movies-could be the best final showdown in movie history;I'm looking forward to it.