Charley Burley
Encyclopedia
Charley Burley was a boxer of the 1940s, compiling a record of 83 wins (50 by knockout), 12 losses, and 2 draws with 1 "no contest". However, because he was so formidable, Burley was never granted a title shot by any of the welterweight
and middleweight
champions of that era and was also avoided by many of the top white contenders (Burley's father was black and his mother white). Among the fighters who "ducked" Burley were Hall of Famers Billy Conn
(who fought Joe Louis
for the heavyweight
title), Frenchman Marcel Cerdan
(who was supposed to face Burley in his American debut), Jake LaMotta
(who had fought the likes of powerpuncher Bob Satterfield
, Sugar Ray Robinson
, and Holman Williams
, who was Burley's greatest rival), and even Sugar Ray Robinson
, considered by many boxing historians as the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time.
Of course, not everyone ducked the slick Pittsburgh warrior. Burley won two out of three matches against future welterweight champion Fritzie Zivic
, defeated the great Archie Moore
by decision, and easily defeated future NYSAC middleweight king Billy Soose
. Burley also faced future heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles
, but dropped two 10 round decisions to him (the bouts were contested within a five week period, sandwiching a fight against Williams). Another notable Burley fight was the one against heavyweight J.D. Turner, who outweighed him by around 70 lbs. "Turner, face beaten to raw beefsteak in six rounds, failed to answer the bell for the seventh." (The Ring, June 1942). Burley himself was never stopped in 98 bouts.
There exists only one near complete film of Burley in action: his second fight with Oakland Billy Smith in 1946. It shows a conservative counter-puncher taming a much larger opponent with relative ease.
Burley's former sparring partner A.J. "Blackie" Nelson offers this comparison: "I see a lot of Charley in this kid, Roy Jones Jr. Both had unorthodox styles, could hit you from any angle, both hard to hit. Charley jabbed more than Jones, if Jones would concentrate on boxing as Charley did, he would become an all-time great."
Eddie Futch
, the great trainer, called Burley "the finest all-around fighter I ever saw."
Burley was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1983 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.
Burley was ranked 39th on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.
An exhibit at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at Pittsburgh's Senator Heinz History Center states that Burley was the model for the character Troy in August Wilson
's play Fences.
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
and middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
champions of that era and was also avoided by many of the top white contenders (Burley's father was black and his mother white). Among the fighters who "ducked" Burley were Hall of Famers Billy Conn
Billy Conn
William David Conn , better known as Billy Conn, was an American Light-Heavyweight boxing champion famed for his fights with Joe Louis. He had a professional boxing record of 63 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, with 14 wins by knockout...
(who fought Joe Louis
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
for the heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
title), Frenchman Marcel Cerdan
Marcel Cerdan
Marcellin "Marcel" Cerdan was a French pied noir world boxing champion who was considered by many boxing experts and fans to be France's greatest boxer, and beyond to be one of the best to have learned his craft in Africa...
(who was supposed to face Burley in his American debut), Jake LaMotta
Jake LaMotta
Giacobbe LaMotta , better known as Jake LaMotta, nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" and "The Raging Bull", is a former American world middleweight champion boxer...
(who had fought the likes of powerpuncher Bob Satterfield
Bob Satterfield
Bob "Bombardier" Satterfield , was a heavyweight boxer who fought from 1945-1957. Satterfield, who never fought for the title, retired with a record of 50 wins , 25 losses and 4 draws. He is in Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time at number 58...
, Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was an African-American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight...
, and Holman Williams
Holman Williams
Holman Williams was a world welterweight boxing contender.-Boxing career:Williams began boxing as an amateur in 1928 as a bantamweight and had a successful 38-bout career...
, who was Burley's greatest rival), and even Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was an African-American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight...
, considered by many boxing historians as the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time.
Of course, not everyone ducked the slick Pittsburgh warrior. Burley won two out of three matches against future welterweight champion Fritzie Zivic
Fritzie Zivic
Fritzie Zivic , born as Ferdinand Henry John Zivcich , was an American boxer.-Biography:...
, defeated the great Archie Moore
Archie Moore
Archie Moore, born Archibald Lee Wright , was light heavyweight world boxing champion who had one of the longest professional careers in the history of that sport....
by decision, and easily defeated future NYSAC middleweight king Billy Soose
Billy Soose
Billy Soose was an American boxer who won the world middleweight championship in 1941.After a collegiate boxing career, Soose became a professional boxer in 1938. That same year he met Charley Burley, defeated Soose by a unanimous decision. In 1940 Soose defeated two future middleweight champions,...
. Burley also faced future heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles
Ezzard Charles
Ezzard Mack Charles was an African-American professional boxer and former world heavyweight champion. He holds wins over numerous Hall of Fame fighters in three different weight classes. Charles retired with a record of 93 wins, 25 losses and 1 draw.-Career:He was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia,...
, but dropped two 10 round decisions to him (the bouts were contested within a five week period, sandwiching a fight against Williams). Another notable Burley fight was the one against heavyweight J.D. Turner, who outweighed him by around 70 lbs. "Turner, face beaten to raw beefsteak in six rounds, failed to answer the bell for the seventh." (The Ring, June 1942). Burley himself was never stopped in 98 bouts.
There exists only one near complete film of Burley in action: his second fight with Oakland Billy Smith in 1946. It shows a conservative counter-puncher taming a much larger opponent with relative ease.
Burley's former sparring partner A.J. "Blackie" Nelson offers this comparison: "I see a lot of Charley in this kid, Roy Jones Jr. Both had unorthodox styles, could hit you from any angle, both hard to hit. Charley jabbed more than Jones, if Jones would concentrate on boxing as Charley did, he would become an all-time great."
Eddie Futch
Eddie Futch
Eddie Futch was a boxing trainer. Among the fighters he trained are Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, and Trevor Berbick, four of the five men to defeat Muhammad Ali....
, the great trainer, called Burley "the finest all-around fighter I ever saw."
Burley was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1983 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.
Burley was ranked 39th on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.
An exhibit at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at Pittsburgh's Senator Heinz History Center states that Burley was the model for the character Troy in August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's play Fences.