Charley said Sugar Ray wouldn't fight him, but also said if the roles were reversed probably would have done the same, as at that time two black fighters fighting for a championship wouldn't have generated a great deal of money, which is a shame, because might have been a higher quality version of Toney v McCallum in the early 90's
Unquestionably, Burley was a great fighter with an economic style that was defensive via the angles taken putting him in great position to counter effectively. Trained by Hiawatha Gray who also trained Joe Louis and Archie Moore. But he had weaknesses too. He beat Archie Moore but also lost to Holman Williams (fought 5 times 2-2-1), lost twice to Ezzard Charles, split with Frankie Zivic, lost to Lloyd Marshall (who broke Sonny Liston's jaw) and others. Sugar Ray could have beat him but like Robinson said Burley may have beat him and two black guys in that day didn't make for a great purse. Thus the risk not worth the reward. I still say Sugar Ray was the best p4p ever, including Burley.
Sugar Ray Robinson will always be the greatest boxer of all times. Charley Burley had a lot of short comings during his years as a fighter. He was very good and I would have liked to see him against Kid Gavilan or Carmen Basilio; but Jake Lamotta would have beaten him. He may have beaten Rocky Graziano by decision.
This guy is badass. Muhammad Ali isn't as badass as him. This guy's awesome. His style is like rocky marciano but a quicker version and has more accurate hands. I've watched his matches.
