at welter or middle do you think he could've beaten the likes of Cerdan, Conn, LaMotta and Robinson? As dumb as it sounds is it better that his place in history is for being the guy who was "ducked" around that time by these guys or would a world title have taken him on to greater things over a long period? Thoughts?
Well i think he's better than Cerdan but stylistically Cerdan would make things hard, purely because of workrate, together with some good accuracy to his punching. Still i reckon Burley could possibly beat him regardless. Very close one. I think Billy Conn is one of the best fighters to ever fight at 175, good enough for anyone to pick up a loss against. LaMotta again, such a great middleweight, Burley might do well styles-wise though. Robinson, well my ultimate pick is Robinson but expect a ten page debate on that.
Of course he could have. Prime-for-prime with Robinson I'd pick him to at-least split a 3 bout series if he fought the right fight.
There are stories that have Cerdan and LaMotta body swerving. They both have tough styles for Burley, but he'd have a very good chance. Conn and Burley were never to meet. I don't think Conn body-swerved Burley at all. He was on his way to HW when the fight was mooted. Interesting fight that, at MW. Picking a winner there...
I think Burleys best chance of winning the title would have been Tony Zale, and it could have happened. I also think Burley might not be as revered by fans.
