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From Mike Tyson & Lennox Lewis to Michael Franzese: Big Joe Egan | True Crime Podcast 246
By the age of 24, Big Joe Egan had over 80 boxing wins, 7 Irish titles and was a Golden Gloves champion. A mean body puncher with a durable chin, he went the distance with Lennox Lewis and beat future WBA champion Bruce Seldon.
Encouraged by Floyd Patterson to try his luck in the USA, Joe joined ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson’s training camp in the Catskill mountains with the great Cus D’Amato. Joe became like a brother to Mike, and, in this book, he gives a rare insight of the early Tyson, who after sparring with Joe described him as the Toughest White Man on the Planet.
In the UK, opening a pub pitted Joe against protection racketeers. Armed with guns, axes and machetes, the organised-crime gang attacked Joe’s pub. During a battle worthy of Braveheart, Joe and his friends stood their ground, and Joe was shot. Tragically, Joe was charged with attempted murder.