Thread: Boxing's Most Ducked Fighter Ever Charles Burley By ICB

Charley Burley


83 wins 50 KO 12 losses 2 draws 1 no contest


Burley imo was one of the most ducked fighters in boxing history even Eddie Futch who trained Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, and many other great fighters said Charley Burley was the greatest all round fighter he had ever seen, you will be shocked at this list but these are just some of the fighters that ducked Charley Burley.

Billy Conn
Marcel Cerdan
Jake LaMotta
Sugar Ray Robinson

Quite shocking isn't it ?? but not quite as shocking as the rumor that when Burley was gym sweeper he sparked out Robinson twice in sparring yes you heard me right folks thats no joke.


Anyway just little info for you guys here Burley was born 1917 his father was black coal miner from Virginia and his mother was a white Irish lady don't really know that much but i know his father died in 1925 and he moved to Pittsburgh in 1929 and where he took up boxing in which he was obvisiously surperb at he was also an excellent baseball player from what i've heard and he would of gone to the 1936 Olympics but he didn't want to go because of the German racist Policies from what i heard anyway i will continue with his boxing career in his 20th pro fight he fought his first real known opponent Fritzie Zivic who you will probably know if you haven't he beat some great fighters like Jake Lamotta and Henry Armstrong x2 anyway Burley lost very close razor thin decision that could of gone either way Burley rebounded and then fought Fritzie Zivic in a rematch the same year and beat him by 10 round decision after the victory Burley fought Cocoa Kid in the same year who was another ducked fighter Cocoa Kid was really awesome fighter though 178 wins 46 KO lost 56 that was his overall record anyway Burley dominated Cocoa Kid he floored him 3 times and won comfortable 15 round decision so 1938 was very good year for Charley Burley.

Moving on the 1939 Burley lost to Jimmy Leto by close decision now most of you probably haven't heard of him but his overall record was 84 wins 27 KO and 24 lost he also beat very good fighter like Cocoa Kid by KO who i mentioned earlier anyway moving on Burley rebounded from that decision loss by once again beating Fritzie Zivic by decision win then right after that fight Burley revenged his loss to Jimmy Leto by winning a decision after that win he fought the great Holman Williams who had a record of 146 wins 36 KO and 30 losses but Burley lost close decision even though Williams was down 3 times but despite the loss Burley had shown great skills and performed well after that loss Burley had no real fights against top opposition for about 3 years which i will be moving on to now.

So onto 1942 was a pretty good year for Burley he once again fought Holman Williams who was 91-8 at that time and Burley revenged his loss to Williams by winning a decision then Burley fought JD Turner who weighed 219 pounds and was 6 foot 3 while Burley weighed 151 pounds and was 5 foot 9 so it was a Heavyweight vs Middleweight but despite that Burley still kicked JD Turner's a** by winning 7th round TKO amazing feat isn't it ?? anyway moving on Burley fought the great Ezzard Charles losing twice to Charles both times by close 10 round decision's during that time Burley also fought Holman Williams 3 times his old rival winning 2-1 Burley he then fought Llyod Marshall losing by a close SD so 1942 was an up and down year for Burley.

Onto 1943 Burley had a draw with his old rival Cocoa Kid then once again fought Holman Williams but the fight was declared NO Contest because after one minute of the 10th round because of inactivity

But Burley went undefeated in 1943 so it was a solid year for him.


Onto 1944 Burley probably got his biggest win of his whole career beating the great Archie Moore and flooring him 4 times to win one sided decision Archie Moore once said "Alot of people ask me who was best fighter i've ever fought i say Rocky Marciano because thats what people want to hear but really and truthfully i was old when i fought Marciano but really the best fighter i ever fought was Charley Burley because he whooped my a** in my prime" funny quote

But Burley never got World title shot he called them all out but none of them wanted to fight even thought Burley was in top 10.


Onto 1945 he once again fought Holman Williams but lost a close 15 round decision after that Burley never really fought any known names he went 19-2 after the fight with Williams and retired in 1946 he was never stopped in his whole career.

And just one more thing i want to show you this quote from Robinson.

"Im Too Pretty To Fight Burley"

Burley always believed he was better than Robinson but Robinson ducked him like the plague like all the other champions did which is sad but anyway i think Burley definetly deserves a mention for amazing fighter because he had to fight bigger men than himself just to get fights.

Heres some footage of the great man at work.


Charley Burley vs. Oakland Billy



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4IsZxqeJos




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v1Ct2DFRQQ

cc. Good stuff ice

Originally Posted by motorcitycobra

cc. Good stuff ice

Thanks mate cc back i tried hard doing this.

Your a Compliment to the Forum ICB.Great stuff.
Beautiful thing about history is its there to be dissected and absorbed.
The "color barrier" cost many of well deserving and skilled fighters there fare shot at glory.Alot of these fighters had to face one another because Unfortunatley Ignorance was In large abundance then.
Marshall was no joke either.
Keep the knowledge Flowing. CC to you my man

You really want to be poster of the year, don't you !? Just kIDDING. gREAT wORK cc

Originally Posted by Spicoli Surfs In 'Nawlins

Your a Compliment to the Forum ICB.Great stuff.
Beautiful thing about history is its there to be dissected and absorbed.
The "color barrier" cost many of well deserving and skilled fighters there fare shot at glory.Alot of these fighters had to face one another because Unfortunatley Ignorance was In large abundance then.
Marshall was no joke either.
Keep the knowledge Flowing. CC to you my man

Thanks appreciate it back.

And cc back to you aswell JJS you have changed your name im not quite sure who you are ??

I might do another one of these soon, but i might try punctuation. Like im trying to do now, because i have always sucked at puncation, and i can test it on here and try and learn to do puncutation, on here because some people have picked me up on it on here.

Keep it up ICE, I'm not really brushed up on older fighters so I find posts like this extremely interesting. Great footage too mate, well deserved CC for that.

Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING

I might do another one of these soon, but i might try punctuation. Like im trying to do now, because i have always sucked at puncation, and i can test it on here and try and learn to do puncutation, on here because some people have picked me up on it on here.

You don't really need it mate, your posts are loud and clear and being pretty shit at it myself I know exactly what your saying lol.

Zivic bought Burleys contract so he would never fight him. Well done ICB cc

Originally Posted by Scrap

Zivic bought Burleys contract so he would never fight him. Well done ICB cc

Cheers Scrap i know your big fan of Burley glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by Kel

Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING

I might do another one of these soon, but i might try punctuation. Like im trying to do now, because i have always sucked at puncation, and i can test it on here and try and learn to do puncutation, on here because some people have picked me up on it on here.

You don't really need it mate, your posts are loud and clear and being pretty S*** at it myself I know exactly what your saying lol.

Yea i know what your saying mate cc.

Good Stuff ICB CC can tell you put a lot into it

Originally Posted by Daxx Kahn

Good Stuff ICB CC can tell you put a lot into it

Cheers Daxx

Originally Posted by Kel

Keep it up ICE, I'm not really brushed up on older fighters so I find posts like this extremely interesting. Great footage too mate, well deserved CC for that.

I missed your reply here glad you enjoy history of the sport i'll do another one next week.