Unfortunately, a week after the plaque was up, it had to come down. The apartment house board of directors wouldn’t allow names of businesses on residential doors. Sonny Lieberman ranted and raved about that. He threatened to sue the apartment house’s board of directors, swore he would deduct the cost of the plaque from his next month’s rent. But to no avail. The plaque came down and Sonny paid the same rent he always paid.

“A minor defeat,” said Sonny Lieberman to Billy Constable. “Onward and upward.”

“Onward and upward” seemed to be Sonny Lieberman’s favorite expression.

Sonny Lieberman was funding his company from his considerable savings account. But the savings account wasn’t considerable enough to put up the necessary collateral to accomplish Sonny’s boyhood dream: promoting a world heavyweight championship fight, like Tex Rickard did.

So Sonny went to his bank to get a loan. The bank turned him down. Sonny then proceeded to visit the treasurer of the local Teamsters’ union to see if he could get a loan from him. Most of the truck drivers who drove around New York’s garment district were Teamsters. A lot of the Teamsters were Sonny’s friends. They drove the trucks that carted Empire Clothing Company’s suits. The man Sonny approached for a loan was a friend named Dino Galhardi.

“I like ya, Sonny,” said Dino Galhardi. “I always have and I’d like to help ya. But I don’t do that sorta thing. I don’t make loans. Not from our union’s treasury. Most of our money’s all tied up in pension funds, but even if it wasn’t, promoting boxing matches doesn’t sound like a good business proposition to me. Sounds more like a risk. But I’ll tell ya what I’ll do. I’ll put ya in touch with someone who might be interested in investing in your boxing idea.”

So Dino Galhardi set up a meeting for Sonny with Giuseppe “The Chop” Sanseli. Legend had it Sanseli used a meat cleaver on several unfortunate business associates’ fingers when they crossed him on his way to the top of the Staten Island Mafia family he controlled. If Sonny Lieberman had been a wise man he would have stayed miles away from Giuseppe “The Chop” Sanseli. But Sonny Lieberman wasn’t a wise man, so he went to Staten Island and explained his idea to Giuseppe Sanseli.

“I’m not gonna give you a loan, Lieberman,” said The Chop, sitting behind his restaurant table and a cloud of cigar smoke.

“You’re not?”

“No, I’m not. I’m gonna give you the money.”

“You are?”

“There’s a but involved.”

“There is?”

“Yeah, there is. The but is, you gotta give me somethin’ in return.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you do. You’re gonna make me your silent partner.”

“I am?”

“We’re gonna split everythin’ down the middle.”

“We are?”

“Fifty-fifty.”

“Fifty-fifty?”

“Yeah, Sonny. If you want the money to promote your heavyweight champions fight, you are.”

And that would be the only mistake enterprising Sonny Lieberman would ever make as a neophyte boxing promoter—taking money from Giuseppe “The Chop” Sanseli.