Bob Mee on Charley Burley

McGrain , you have done it again! Great avatar!!

 

Absolutely... although I'm not so sure Monzon's relatively slow one-two would be such a controlling factor. He would have to try to catch Burley mid-leap. However, I would add or repeat that Monzon was extremely good at imposing his will and controlling the tempo of the fight... his pressure was as psychological as it was physical.

Though Bivins brings different things than Monzon.

I'll discuss # 2 first. ... Billy Smith was a larger man. Archie Moore. He iced Elmer Ray who was a HW, in sparring, and he did the same to JD Turner who was 220 and 6'3... Against Marshall he was essentially a one-handed fighter -he reportedely had to ice his thumb right before fight time to keep the swelling down. Burley made no excuses though... and Marshall was able to catch him going away and coming in... I'm not so sure that Carlos would though.

As for #1... yes, you make a good argument in support of Monzon's range finding and distance negotiations... my retort is already noted more or less, namely that Burley was never long in any range. He fought like a jumping jack -springing in and out with speed and power. Do you see the possibility that this style, considering the talent and the supreme skill behind it, may be the foil for Monzon's style?

You have a compelling argument. I like mine better, but I'm not as sure as I originally was!

 

Burley was also by his own admission "exhausted" when he signed to face Marshall. He faced Lloyd in December of 1942. It was his 17th fight that year and among his opponents were Holman Williams whom he fought 4 times, JD Turner, Shorty Hogue, and Ezzard Charles (2x).

Marshall had him down twice and on rubber legs about three times -in rounds 2 and 3. Ken Overlin, who Lloyd beat in 38, said that Lloyd was the greatest fighter he ever faced. Too bad that Marshall's career is tough to assess because of his connections.

PS/ Oakland Billy Smith was a bit nutty. He took a beating against Moore and then actually turned around mid-fight, climbed out of the ring, and went home!

 

:good :good

 

I knew that he got the gas chamber in Arizona for killing his wife, but didn't know that he went out in his boxing gear. Funny, I understand it. You got to be deal with that without relieving yourself in your pants, so he donned his gear and went into the tank against the undefeated Grim Reaper. God Bless him.

 

Excellent thread, Burley is 1 of my faves, I've only been aware of him the last 2-3years but the more I've found out and seen of him the more I have to say he is 1 of the best of all time.

Whats the highest conceivable P4P spot Burley could be given. Could you play devils advocate and rate him over SRR? His wins over Moore/WIlliams may well trump any of SRRs wins and the Williams series is probably on par with the Lamotta series. For all the P4P talk, Robinson may have been a little better BUT not by much at all and Burley barely makes the top30 in most P4P lists, criminal