The champion boxer and the crime boss who wanted him dead

Barry Michael was a professional boxer who made his name in the ring as a smart and brave fighter with a kit of wicked body punches. Alphonse John Gangitano, a mobster who preferred a king hit to a fair fight, was in the corner of the talented Lester Ellis when Michael took Ellis' world title. The trouble was, Gangitano wanted the title back. In today's episode of Naked City with John Silvester, Michael recounts what happened when Gangitano ambushed him in a Melbourne nightclub, and what happened when "Sly" took him on in the ring. Background reading John Silvester's story on Barry Michael. All of John Silvester's stories and columns.

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The champion boxer and the crime boss who wanted him dead is an episode from Naked City by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

This episode is 42:48 long.

This episode was published on Apr 28, 2026.

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