On This Day In Boxing History!

1992: Charley Burley Passes!

Charley Burley    

Born: September 6th, 1917

Birth Name: Charles Duane Burley

Birth Place: Bessemer, Pennsylvania

Pro-Debut: September 29th, 1936

Residence: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Division: Welterweight

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 5′ 9″  

Reach: 75″  

Bouts: 98

Rounds: 699

Ko’s: 51%

Record: 83-12-2, 50Ko’s   

Died: Age 75, October 16th,1992

International Hall of Fame: Class of 1992

Amateur Career

At age 12, Burley joined the Kay Boys Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he took up boxing under the tutelage of local trainers Leonard Payne and Howard Turner.

Burley won a Golden Gloves Junior title at lightweight and a Golden Gloves Senior title at welterweight.

Burley lost to Leo Sweeney in the welterweight final of the National AAU Tournament.

In 1936, Burley was invited to Chicago to attend the box-offs for the Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, but he declined as he objected to the racial and religious persecution taking place in Germany. Instead, he received an invitation to represent the United States at the Workers' Games, which were being held in Barcelona, Spain, as an alternative to the Olympics. However, the Workers' Games never took place because of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

Professional Career

On August 22, 1938, Burley defeated Cocoa Kid by a fifteen-round unanimous decision to win the "Colored" World Welterweight Championship.

On April 6, 1944, Burley defeated Jack Chase by a ninth-round knockout to win the California State Middleweight Championship.

Burley defeated future World Champions Fritzie Zivic, Billy Soose and Archie Moore.

Burley fought Holman Williams seven times between 1939 and 1945. Burley won three, Williams won three and one was a no contest.

BoxRec lists Burley's record as 83-12-2 with 1 no contest, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame lists his record as 84-11-2 with 1 no contest.

Burley was never stopped in 98 professional fights.

Honors & Recognition

Inducted into The Ring Magazine Boxing Hall of Fame in 1983.

Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987.

Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

Ranked 39th on The Ring Magazine's 2002 list - The 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.

Ranked 86th on The Ring Magazine's 2003 list - The 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time!

Ranked 6th on The Ring Magazine's 2004 list The Greatest Middleweights of All-Time.

Ranked 4th on The Ring Magazine's 2008 list The Greatest Welterweights of All-Time.

Legendary trainer Eddie Futch said, "Charley Burley was the finest all-around fighter I ever saw."

Charles Duane Burley is buried at the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

October 16th

1900: Matty Matthews W15 James Ferns

1902: Young Corbett KO 8 Joe Berstein

1903: Frankie Neil D 20 Johnny Reagan

1906: Honey Mellody W15 Joe Walcott

1909: Jack Johnson KO12 Stanley Ketchel

1932: Ingemar Johansson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden

1942: Natl Boxing Assn freezes titles of those serving in armed services.

1950: Sugar Ray Robinson TKO6 Joe Rindone

1969: Charles Brewer is born in Philadelphia, PA.

1970: Chucho Castillo KO14 Ruben Olivares

1976: Wilfred Benitez KO3 Tony Petronelli

Samuel Serrano W15 Ben Villaflor

Alfonso Zamora KO12 Soo Hwan Hong

1980: Livingstone Bramble age 20 debuts TKO1 Jesus Serrano

1982: Eusebio Pedroza D15 Bernard Taylor

1987: Mike Tyson KO7 Tyrell Biggs

Matthew Hilton KO2 Jack Callahan

Jeff Fenech TD4 Carlos Zarate

1988: Juan Jose Estrada KO11 Takuya Muguruma

1990: James Toney W10 Sanderline Williams

Winky Wright W4 Anthony Salerno

1992: Boxing's most avoided fighter Charley Burley passes

Anaclet Wamba W12 Andrew Maynard

1993: Anaclet Wamba KO7 Akim Tafer

1997: Boxer Mike Tyson is ordered to pay boxer Mitch Green $45,000 even though a jury ruled the former heavyweight champion was provoked into a Harlem-street fight in 1988.    

1999: Irene Pacheco KO4 Ferid Ben Jeddou

2008: Oscar Larios W12 Takahiro Aoh

Hozumi Hasegawa KO2 Alejandro Valdez

2010: Vitali Klitschko W12 Shannon Briggs

Julio Cesar Miranda TKO2 Michael Arango

Silverio Ortiz KO2 Elvin Perez     

Wilfredo Vazquez Jr TKO11 Ivan Hernandez

Lindsay Garbatt DMD10 Melissa Hernandez

2015: Kohei Kono W12 Koki Kameda     

Lusanda Komanisi KO5 Roli Gasca

2019: Freeport, Long Island, New York's, popular light middleweight Patrick “All” Day passed from brain trauma sustained in a knockout loss October 12th, 2019 against unbeaten 2016 Olympian, Charles Conwell.

2021: Mairis Briedis TKO3 Artur Mann

Savannah MarshallTKO2 Lolita Muzeya

2022: Devin Haney W12 George Kambosos Jr.