What's the story on this guy? I just watched his second fight with Carmen Basillio, a fight in which he won fairly handily, but I wasn't altogether that impressed. He was being described as a master boxer, seemed light on his feet, was moving laterally, and pumping out some fast right hand jabs from the southpaw stance. His punching technique left a lot to be desired as he seemed to be pushing a lot of his punches. Didn't seem to have any snap on them at all. He was undefeated at the time and after consulting his Boxrec, I see he actually defeated a host of good fighters; Basillio, Graziano, and Williams all lost fights to Chuck Davey. Was Carmen green at this point? How good was Chuck Davey?
He took advantage of his southpaw style (a rarity in those days) but he wasn't truly championship material, which Kid Gavilan exposed by taking him apart. Graziano and Williams were washed up at the time they fought Davey, Basilio was green. Davey was the first top rated opponent that Basilio ever fought.
Davey was being pushed as the cleancut, all american, white college boy boxer for TV audiences. There has been a lot of speculation as to whether or not his biggest wins were fixed or not.
He really didn't look to be up to much in the footage I saw, and after seeing a highlight of the first Basilio/Robinson fight, it's clear that Carmen would improve dramatically.
Why am I finding it so hard to take Chuck Davey seriously? I can't believe Basilio lost to this guy. Thanks for the footage. I'm surprised it went that long, I got the sense that Gavilan could have ended it at any point if he decided to open up.
In Basilio's defense, he arguably won the first fight which was changed to a draw, perhaps to protect Davey's unbeaten streak. Davey being the more experienced fighter adjusted to Basilio's aggressive and one-dimensional style. This was really the first time that Basilio was in there against a top fighter. Basilio I think learned a lot from his fights with Billy Graham.
I tend to agree. Looks like the wind could blow him over, which makes his win over Carmen all that more bemusing. Even if Basilio was green, no idea.
Nah, Davey was an alright fighter IMO. He was never going to be a world beater as Gavilan proved for us. His awkward southpaw style, that he used to good effect, combined with his lateral movement and popping jab made him awkward to fight. He was basically a sound out-boxer with very little power and could be taken out, although his vulnerability did seem more to be against explosive, fast punchers like Gavilan rather than the strong vice-like punchers like Basilio. I thought he beat Basilio in their bout but I have not seen it in a while.
Chuck Davey would be a non-factor in today's Welterweight division. I don't really rate him at all, not from watching his second fight with Carmen Basilio and his beating at the hands of Gavilan.
In which case we're in a disagreement. He'd probably make the top 10 rankings, but get systematically outclassed and befuddled every time he tried to take on someone with a pulse. As someone else said, not championship caliber - not then, not now. :good Old Foreman with a parrot on his shoulder, now that's a different discussion.
I would bet on Davey to beat Berto. But not Foreman or his parrot (I'm assuming Foreman's parrot is a badass too).