One fighter ive never seen or know much about..Anyone have anything to say on his career?..I never hear his name mentioned
..............Drowned in a bathtub. Don't know much else about him other than he lost his title to Pep.
Probably the most "forgotten " boxing name today is Chalky Wright. Wright was born in 1912, in Durango, Mexico. He had 222 bouts, koing 81 opponents in his career, spotting many, many opponents 10-20 pounds. The only featherweight who was superior to Wright in his prime was Henry Armstrong in 1938.At his best he kod Joey Archibald, Harry Jeffra, Phil Terranova. He beat Johnny Bratton,Emrique Bolanos, Willie Joyce,all heavier great lightweights of that tough era. By the time Chalky lost his title to Willie Pep in 1942, Wright was 30 years old and on the downside...Could he hit ! At his best,with proper training and management, I rate Wright in the top 10 featherweights of alltime...Cheers...
Chalky impressed those who knew him for his advanced intelligence and his sharp recall. Chalky prided himself on his memory. According to an interview in the April 29, 1940 edition of the Baltimore Sun, Chalky was indeed born in Durango Mexico though moved to Colton, California at nine years old. He graduated from high school and never competed as an amateur. Nevertheless, he won his first fight, lost his second (he was a sub) and then won 20 straight. He bumped into Newsboy Brown who Flyweight Champ at the time and got, in his own words, "a boxing lesson in six rounds." That must have been in '28. He was a sparring partner for Fidel La Barba and soon was avoided to the point that he went to Hawaii looking for fights. He then returned to Cali and was broke enough to join the CCC camp (Roosevelt's "Civilian Conservation Corps") to eat. Then he went to Oregon to box again. He was in Mexico to face Baby Arizmendi, where he said, he got a bad decision. From 1935-37 he was Mae West's chauffer and probably something else too. He resigned in '37 and resumed fighting, but said "I must have been crazy" to leave that behind. After Armstrong beat him, he hired him as a sparring partner. Then Chalky says he went to England and beat their bantam, feather, and LW champions and was one of the last to leave before WWII broke out. He was on a ship with Bob Hope, Charles Laughton, and Bing Crosby's brother shaking in their boots in fear of German submarines. He fought Cocoa Kid in what I have determined to be Cocoa Kid's peak -1940 and two of three officials saw it Cocoa Kid's way. One had it a draw. That's very impressive. Chalky's aggression took rounds 1 and 2, but from 3 to 8, he couldn't deal with the jab and (from round 4 on) the right cross of of the taller man, and couldn't break through his defense. Chalky moved inside the reach of CK in the ninth and tenth and managed to outfight him. It was Cocoa Kid's almight jab that carried the fight... it very often was.
Fought and beat welterweights despite being a featherweight himself. Gave a tough fight to Cocoa Kid. He was outweighed by up to 22 pounds in these fights.
