Everybody has their own understanding of what being tough is.

When I think of the combination of mental and physical toughness, I think of fighters. The mob has a long history of being around fighters both in boxing and mma. But were there any gangsters that a fighter would respect and even fear if not for their organized crime backing?

I suspect that most feel tough and powerful because of their connection to the underworld(artificially tough) but there may be a select few that are authentically all of that with or without the mob’s influence.

The first measure of a motherfuckers hardness in the street is their ability to rock, how much punishment they can dole out and how much they can take.
Second is how far a motherfucker is prepared to go as a means to an end, what are you prepared to do to achieve your goals.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
The streets can produce some hardass motherfuckers but the hardest dudes I know are military, they're the ones getting shot repeatedly, blown up, riddled with shrapnel and still, still,..carry five of their wounded buddies back to the LZ for evac.
That's heart and it doesn't get more real than advancing in the face of death.

Do you mean mob guys that can physically fight? I'm sure them 300lb and 6ft 4' guys that seemed to be a big % of the mob ,weren't to be messed with.
But like you said, it's the being part of an organisation that gives them the confidence.

In the end, what's being a good fighter in that life. (20th century). When killers with guns were all around. Its like that crime Inc. With Cantulopo " this guy is an 80 year old with no arms, eyes etc but Bobo the 350lb gorilla is scared to death of him".
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Tough means different things to different people. Someone in the life once told me “boys fight, men kill”.

For me Pitera is an example of tought guy: good fighter with martial art skills and ready to kill for the family and keep the mouth shout.

I think anyone not tough would not last long. Perhaps the past 20 years it had changed a bit, but not much. Many of those who came into the mob were ex combat vets or ex boxers, and most grew up in hard core neighborhoods. Benny Eggs flew missions over enemy territory in WW2, even if Al D'Arco's story (That most people do not believe) of roughing him up in his own place is true, Mangano is still a tough man in my opinion.

Not this shit again...

What a stupid post. Who cares.

Curious question though, back when I was growing up, it wasn't about how pretty you were, but how tough. My has the world changed.

I would rather be handsome than tough. In other words, everywhere you go people start talking about how good looking you are.

I'm not talking about just being handsome, in a masculine way. Guys are just straight feminine and girly these days, while still talking thug life.

Lol… i know what you meant. There is definitely a war on white masculinity. That being said, the guys today are a bunch of fuckin wimps.

Good example. He was a complete nut but I would think almost anyone would be afraid of him even if he didn’t have a weapon on him. The Rampers were a gang that did not have any backing from the 5 families and they used to clash with members of the families. They had a bad reputation and used to fight as well.

Masculinity in general is seen as less than currently.

I would say physically fighting is the standard for starters. Most fighters and a lot of people in the street life have grown up fighting. Some more than others. But you’re right. In that life, you can be the baddest street fighter ever but a bullet will still kill you if they feel you are a threat.

Nino Gaggi thought he was a tough guy with the backing of the Gambino's. He was proved wrong by Vincent Governara. That shit cracks me up. I wonder if there was a lot of shit talking behind his back after he got rocked by the civilian. Although he eventually ends up getting killed, the poor Bastard escapes an attempted car bombing, and ultimately has to have one of LCN's most prolific killers sent after him when Nino, Roy Demeo, and the future junky rat against the guy who raised him (Montiglio) take him out.

I don't think any of his fellow wiseguys talked about it behind his back, they probably just saw it for what it was. He had a fight, and did not win it. Didn't it happen as a teen?

Many commenters here seem to forget the golden rule, and a rule that was ultimately applied between Nino Gaggi and Vincent Governara, that a wiseguy is always right, even when he's wrong.

That’s a perfect example of a fake tough guy in that sense. If you lose a fight then lose like a man. I don’t know the whole context behind the fight and how far the other guy may have taken things. But maybe a younger version of Nino could’ve beaten him. I’m sure his nephew Dominick could handle himself well with his hands being that he was in the service.

A lot of older wise guys have been known to train in some form of fighting. Mostly boxing. People have said that Carmine Galante was as tough as they came and he was a boxer.

I disagree with you, most of us, if someone broke our nose and we had the power to have the guy whacked and get away with it, we would. I know a lot of people would say otherwise but I don't believe it. All that bullshit about being tough would go out the window. Let's just keep it real, most people really don't know what they would do unless they were in that position. I'm not saying that it's right or wrong, I'm just telling it like it is.

Governara was a tough guy, Nino was a killer and was prepared to kill someone as a means to an end, Governara was not. It's not only about how well you handle yourself in the street, It's about how far are you prepared to take things to achieve your goals. Like Sean Connery said in the Untouchables."What are you prepared to do?"

when Greco, Limone, Salviati and Tamaleo were accused of murder to make them talk they threatened them with capital punishment and they said "power up the electric chair". That means to be tough.

Me personally, I guess it would depend on the situation. If I was the one who started it, I'd take it like a man. However, if I didn't start it, I'd do what Nino did.

Its not stupid...Toughness means more then how many people you hurt...Guy's that the public know of like Sonny Black, willingly went to be killed...They don't come any tougher then that