Before there was Floyd Mayweather, there was Charley Burley

[therealpugilist]

Charley was one of the most skilled fighters of all time and a look at his ledger shows this.....they say there is no film of him. Its 2015 guys.....do your research


He was so good, none of the world champions wanted to give him a shot...even the IMMORTAL SUGAR RAY ROBINSON


Some people say he was ducked, had poor management, etc.....now his talent cant be denied


Though he was ranked at 147 and 160 for a decade he never got a title shot but did hold wins over world champions...Fritzie Zivic, Archie Moore, and the black murderers row in Holman Williams, Bert Lytell, jack Chase, Holman Williams, Aaron Wade

His nemesis was Ezzard Charles....who matched his skill but was the much larger man.



Charley Burley is the only fighter I ever watched that fought similar to Floyd Mayweather...what do you guys think

[therealpugilist]

I never got why some posters on this site don't look at past fighters

some of them actually look like modern day guys....in Burley's case....Id favor him over most the guys today from 140-160

[BKM-2010]

Never stopped in nearly 100 fights(98 total). Did he ever get knocked down?

[SlySlickSmooth]

I read that there was a possibility of a fixing between Burley and Robinson if the fight ever went down. Something along the lines of,

I win this fight, but you get the next.. I forgot how exactly it went. I don't have the book on me right now. I don't think either man was truly afraid of each other at all.

Robinson's suits just couldn't risk losing their flamboyant champion. Also that Robinson had a tendency to spend a lot of his fight earnings and essentially needed future fights to maintain his spending.

[therealpugilist]

Never stopped in nearly 100 fights(98 total). Did he ever get knocked down?

I think Ezzard Charles dropped him....id have to research that...he could never get by the Cinncinati Cobra



Do you think he and Mayweather fight similarly

[Larry the boss]

Incredible fighter

[Larry the boss]

I read that there was a possibility of a fixing between Burley and Robinson if the fight ever went down. Something along the lines of,

I win this fight, but you get the next.. I forgot how exactly it went. I don't have the book on me right now. I don't think either man was truly afraid of each other at all.

Robinson's suits just couldn't risk losing their flamboyant champion. Also that Robinson had a tendency to spend a lot of his fight earnings and essentially needed future fights to maintain his spending.

Yea i heard that as well

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Him and floyd have some similarities..

Honestly watching the fight you uploaded, floyd seems to much more polished and relaxed..
Burley lunged a lot looking for that lead left hookish/uppercut... Floyd is a lot more refined in my opinion..
The 2nd half of the fight, once oakland billy tired and slowed down, burley really picked him apart in a manner similar to floyd..

Hard to judge burley/floyd based on that one fight, but those were my thoughts

[therealpugilist]

Him and floyd have some similarities..

Honestly watching the fight you uploaded, floyd seems to much more polished and relaxed..
Burley lunged a lot looking for that lead left hookish/uppercut... Floyd is a lot more refined in my opinion..
The 2nd half of the fight, once oakland billy tired and slowed down, burley really picked him apart in a manner similar to floyd..

Hard to judge burley/floyd based on that one fight, but those were my thoughts

they had a lot of the same pet punches

he rolled with his shoulders better than Floyd imo

In floyds lightweight days he used that lunging left hook a lot...now he is fighting bigger guys....a bit more dangerous to throw an unconventional punch like that



IDK if I'd say Floyd was more refined but Burley looks like he would be a champ today and looks very contemporary with his technique and combos

[Hype job]

Respect to these old codgers but like Elroy1 says they couldn't light a candle to the modern era.