Who is the Charley Burley of the modern era?

[Jimmy G-Force]

This is a tough one. I dont really know of many fighters that had a similar amount of talent, yet never got a crack at a title. In this regard Burley stands alone. There are still some great fighters of the modern era that certainly didnt get the chances their talent deserved, and were subsequently avoided or ducked for the most part.

For me the most obvious is probably Aaron Pryor. Howard Davis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Hearns, Mancini and Watt certainly had Pryor at the top of their 'who needs him club'. Pryor for me had all the talent in the world, but was never given the defining fights his skills and legacy justified. Apart from Cervantes and Arguello, nobody really wanted anything to do with the 'Hawk'.

I'm a big fan of Pryor and Arguello, it's just a shame that the world never really got so see just how good Aaron Pryor was.

[CutMeMick]

Call me crazy (wait for people to call me crazy)

But I really don't get the big fuzz about Burley.
I personally see him as a folk tale.

I mean I've always argued about these old time fighters (even older then Burley) like Walker, Gibbons, O'Brien etc. etc. etc. Langford.

All we're going by is what some people wrote, many moons ago.
If today writers exagerrate story's can you imagine this before?

I can't say they werent great fighters because maybe they we're but me personally I choose not to rate them along side modern fighters.
It is impossible. Even more so here with a fighter whom most of here have not seen a single full fight of his.

I mean really here's 2 general questions.
How many of you here think SRR ducked him?
How many of you think Burley knocked out SRR during a sparring session while Burley was mopping floors at a gym?

[Scrap]

I do

[El Kabong]

Mick, even if it's fake, the myth of the average Joe schooling the World Champion or a top star (especially when that dude is a shmuck) is just a part of the culture of sports.

Examples:
Spadafora sparring PBF
Numerous fighters sparring Tyson in the 80's
Gene Lebell choking out Steven Seagal
Chuck Zito KO-ing Jean Claude Van Damme


Also the "unknown" is very interesting to sports fanatics, How would Bruce Lee have done in MMA? What did Harry Greb's style look like? Was John L. Sullivan really a bad ass? The less you know about something the more questions you want to ask about them.

[Scrap]

Burley was no average Joe