James - good luck, mate.

A good place to look would be the transition from the Jewish cartels in boxing in the 20's and early 30's to the Italian-American cartel in the late thirties probably through to the sixties.

Norris's IBC 'club' were an interesting middle ground in the 50's, and the whole sorry spectacle culminated in the Kefauver Hearings, at which Sonny Liston was implicated.

The problem you are going to have with this subject, is that the establishment in boxing, who have access and knowledge you need, are going to be reluctant to help you with a project that paints their living in a poor light?

You might want to stick to boxing, but maybe change the actual subject matter to something that would be easier to get people to cooperate with?

Still - good luck to you.