Did Anyone Miss No One Important?

[joeandthebums]

No it wasn't possible. Burley didn't fight a relevant, top fighter for half a decade before retirement. By the time he did retire, Robinson had just moved to middleweight.

It was never realistic.

Sorry but it was definitely a very real possibility.

1941/1942, both were top rated welterweights.

Burley was struggling to land meaningful fights at 147 and Robinson was making transition into weight against notable opponents.

Burley had to move up to secure relevant fights, go look at his 1942 list of opponents. Robinson established himself as top welterweight and tried to secure a title shot at Freddie Cochrane.

Up to 1945 a match-up was feasible and if you believe that Burley could drop weight easy as they say then the window was even larger.

Like I said there was little demand for the fight, Burley was a travelling fighter, and even when he did have a good following in Pittsburgh, many there doubted he could match Robinson if the two ever met.

[JAB5239]

Louis and Ali?

[The Old LefHook]

Sorry but it was definitely a very real possibility.

1941/1942, both were top rated welterweights.

Burley was struggling to land meaningful fights at 147 and Robinson was making transition into weight against notable opponents.

Burley had to move up to secure relevant fights, go look at his 1942 list of opponents. Robinson established himself as top welterweight and tried to secure a title shot at Freddie Cochrane.

Up to 1945 a match-up was feasible and if you believe that Burley could drop weight easy as they say then the window was even larger.

Like I said there was little demand for the fight, Burley was a travelling fighter, and even when he did have a good following in Pittsburgh, many there doubted he could match Robinson if the two ever met.

Yes, and Burley's weight was similar to Robinson's throughout his career, as he often fought heavier men.

Why the two never fought, or if there is any truth to the rumor that Robby himself made a private statement that he wanted to avoid Burley, we are not likely to ever know. If there had been much of a call for the fight, I feel there would have been a fight between them. Perhaps there was a persistent background mumrmur for such a fight from the minority that was drowned out by the roar of Robby's metoric rise, I do not know for certain. Fighters who knock someone out every two or three weeks are generally not criticized for fighting no one, especially when some of the names in his first few years were the likes of Ambers, Angot, Servo, Lamotta and Janazzo.

Wars disrupt the flow of things. Without a war perhaps we would have had a fight in '43 or '44. Some months, or even as much as a year of prime career was probably lost from Robby's peak competitive potential before and after his "episode," during which his management might well have avoided a spoiler like Burley, while Ray got stable again. These are mere speculations, and would not explain why a fight did not occur after the war.

I would again have to examine Robby's record in detail surrounding the "episode," before I could support my conjecture above with more than a feel for situations. I do not have time or the taste for that activity at this moment. It means getting better acquainted with his opponents during that interval, unless the names make it obvious that he got right back to first class talent. One would think there would be an interlude of soft fights lined up by his management to see if he was fully recovered, but only an examination of the record and the opponents would tell for sure.