Rank the Black Murderer's Row of the 30's and 40's

i dont know alot about these guys i ll start reading up on them and come to a conclusion

 

is there any footage

cheers for mentioning them

 

ok will check it out and again thanks for the heads up

 

downlaoded some footage off of youtube i got burley vsbilly smith the whole fight that is the only footage available of him

 

sugar ray robinson was supposed to have aoided charley burley and lloyd marshall beat ezzard charles and battered freddie mills in 5

 

havent watched it yet Pea but will

 

I havent really debated this subject for some time now, but i used to generally have Bivins top and Burley just after him, though im not too sure because Burley was naturally not quite as large, a great welterweight he was in pure terms, but as we know, he made his mark as a great middleweight (for me) more so.

As for your question Sweet Pea, i can't say i will give you good insight in terms of rankings but can tell you what i rate highly about some of them (i know Bivins wasnt involved in the thread but thought i'd mention him). For me Williams and Booker are of the highest i'd rate. Williams with the weaknesses he had in attack and with the resume he compiled, truly great. While Coco Kid was clearly one of the best guys of the time, i think some of the others, Burley etc, were effectively better. But from what i've read it must have been great watching the kid, we'd respect him highly i think.

Look at Marshall's wins resume, truly astonishing, and yes, the losses resume may be there to even it out, but who that's a terrily harsh criticism with such competition level.

Imo Burley is the best of your mentioned bunch, this man was class, just look at what we have to study and you can see the technical profficiency of the man, i think he would be able to shut a lot of guys out with his style, and bang out a lot aswell

 

If you are going to read up on the topic, 'The Life and Hard Times of an Uncrowned Champion' may be the best book i've ever read. Gives good reflection on the situation with Sugar Ray Robinson aswell.

 

I'd have Burley, Williams, and Marshall inside my top 100 if I had one. Burley somewhere around 20-25, Williams probably somewhere around 40, Marshall just a bit further back.

After those three, compared to each other, I'd add in Bivins, followed by Booker, then probably Lytell, Cocoa Kid, Chase, and Wade in that order, although I know less about Wade than the others.

 

Yeah imagine it, seeing how he would go about offsetting the other's strengths. We really have been deprived some special footage here havent we.