I have yet to come across any interviews with this excellent fighter, which is surprising considering that he had a reasonably long life, dying in 1968. He fought Langford, Greb, Flowers, Wills and so many other great fighters that you'd think that The Ring or some publication would have found it important to get his firsthand story in print. Anyone ever come across anything?
I once came across an interview where he said "I am Kid Norfolk. I don't drink, nor smoke, nor foke." And I always thought that was humorous.
The only "something" i can contribute about Kid Norfolk is I stood about 4 feet away from him at Stillman's gym in the 1940s. After he talked to some guys and walked away, I enquired who he was ? He was Kid Norfolk who I knew little about at that time...As Shaw wrote, "tis a pity that youth is wasted on the young " !
Amen, Burt. I once stood 15 feet from Charley Burley and didn't approach. He died just a few months later. I regret my non-action to this very day.
Burt, Surf, never really had the opportunity to rub shoulders with boxing elite...but it was Burt's reference to Norfolk at Stillman's that made me wonder about what Norfolk would've thought on a number of topics...:good
S, as i have posted before, in the early 1940s my dad asked me to come with him to St. nicholas arena , to watch a prelim boy he favored...I said NO which i rarely did. Well he came home late that night and raved about the main event in which a certain Charley Burley demolished a fighter in the 1st round...The next day i read about the fight in which the writer said to the effect, "after seeing Charley Burley ko his opponent, it will probably be the last time we see him in NY ". And the boxing writer was correct... So I screwed up the opportunity to see the great feared and avoided Charley Burley...I saw Ray Robinson in MSG in his absolute WW prime a few times and how i missed the chance to see Charley Burley and compare the two in my mind...But honestly after seeing Robinson at his zenith I find it hard to see any WW beating him, but Burley WAS a little heavier...Oh well...
I was under the impression i had one but his daughter Minerva debunked it as it had him working on a construction job down in Philli at some point in the 1930s. Philli was never a place he lived or worked according to her.
