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Originally posted by lightsout_finit
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And I reply to the always per****acious Christo that the official weight "excuse" was always available for Robinson and Burley, and looks good on paper. But Charley himself was a smallish middleweight (weight-wise, not height-wise) in those days. To make matters more sad for us, the fight was entirley possible and feasible for these two great athletes, for from the beginning Robby regularly fought middleweights, guys in the 153-157 range, exactly where Charlie was in the 40's. Robinson was fighting over the weight matches all along through the 40's. Perhaps a lot of welterweights were off to WWII.
I seem to doubt that there was even much of a call for this fight back in the day, if any. I believe the Robinson/Burley controversy is more of an historical afterthought uncovered by journalists than an active controversy in its day. For whatever reason(s), though, we did not get the fight. Since these two guys were basically the same size all along, and Burley became a professional either two or four years before Robby, the fight was entirely feasible from an athletic standpoint from about late 43 or early 44 onwards, once Ray had gained a few years experience.
It is a great matchup that was missed in the flow of history. Most great fighters have one or a few. Ali does not.
Even Rocky now is tentatively on the list. I asked those who spoke to provide more insight into the Baker fellow Rocky allegedly missed and could/should have fought, but they have not responded yet.
I learned a simple truth a long time ago. A truth about learning itself. The fastest way to knowledge is to ask an expert. You can grind out fixing your computer problem for frustrated hours or days by yourself, or you can ask an expert, who will probably solve your simple problem within minutes. So it goes for almost any subject. That is why I ask for more information on Baker. If I did not have associates on here whose opinions I can can trust and value in certain matters, I would not bother to ask, of course. Ray's opinion on this matter of Baker would be of value.
Unfortunately, I cannot look everything up. I have higher math to tackle, electronics to learn, guitar to practice, novels to write...sometimes I trust in my friends to provide the information they already have rather than go digging for it myself, since I am always busy digging somewhere. Dig is what I do. But I cannot do all the digging in the world or as much as I would like to do, so I rely on others. Books, articles, videos...they all rely on someone else, as well. However, none are as quick and direct--ahem!--as the e-pipeline to a knowledable associate is supposed to be.
The next time Ray and I are out in the boat, I am going to query him on Baker, rest assured.
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