Was Charley Burley actually better than Ray Robinson?

Question

It is well known that Robinson ducked Burley. So did Jake LaMotta and supposedly Marcel Cerdan.
Burley beat the larger Archie Moore as well as a few heavyweights. Burley lost two decisions to Ezzard Charles - maybe the most underrated boxer in history! Burley/Robinson - who wins? Why?

Answer 1

Man, I gotta tell you, as spectacular as Ray Robinson was, Charley Burley was his equal. Burley was much more successful at the higher weights than Ray, and may just have been as good if not better than Ray. According to Eddie Futch, Burley was the best Eddie had seen, and Futch seen more fighters than just about anyone. The blogbaba is at the end of his knowledge, and will have to flip a coin on this one. I really don't know which one was better it's too close to call. Muhammed Ali gave the nod to Ray Robinson, and Eddie Futch gave the nod to Burley. Both of those guys know more about boxing than I ever will, and they disagreed as to who was better. Some how it makes my opinion somewhat unnecessary.

Answer 2

Robinson didn't duck Burley because he was scared of him, he didn;t fight him because Burley was not a big name at all in those days. All the big names were white fighters back then to tell you the truth, and Robinson could get the big money fights with any of them. Burley was known as a fighter who was not a crowd pleaser, and he was not a big draw. He won his fights, and made his opposition look bad even when he lost, so it was not keen to have your fighters face him, but Ray wasn;t scared at all, he was just smart and would rather take the big fights.



I would bet on Ray to have won that fight as well. It wouldn't be a great performance from him, but I think he edges out the decision.

Answer 3

well the guy above answer this question very good. he also forgot to mention afew things. like not only eddie futch declared that burley was the greatest but ray arcel as well. ray arcel said that he was confident that robinso can beat anyone but burley he was one guy i didnt want robinson to fight. archie moore isanother one who said burley was the best fighter i ever fought and also fought lot of all tim greats like ali and marciano.

Answer 4

in most ppls opinion this will be my fav SRR .. but burley did some amazing things and was possibly ducked by SRR himself along with Jake lamotta ! ( wow ..2 guys who I never thought would duck any1) .. I think he could win .. I think it would of been a great fight I wonder why he was ducked and ppl say he resembles 1 of my other favorites ( roy jones jr ) ... so 2 unorthodox styles ( odd styles not south paw ) but burely beat archie moore , other heavey weights , no welter weight or middle weight champs would fight him.. he is a top 100 ranked puncher and top 40 boxer of the last 100 years .. 98 fights never been stopped .. but he doesn't have alot of names to his credit..but then again was ducked.. I cannot say 4 sure SRR would lose he is the top p4p boxer ever in many ppls eyes for good reason not just ignorance.. but he ducked this guy for a reason right? .. great question I take SRR but sounds like burely scared him and could win and I guess roy jones jr is the answer to SRR lol

Answer 5

sugar ray robinson never ducked nobody and burley couldn't handle Robinson anyways. sugar ray robinson is till these day the best pound 4 pound boxer to ever live and that's all i have to say.

Answer 6

well maybe but ray robinson might have could have beat him but it was just a challenge idk for sure but id say they were close in talent.

thanks

~Cherokee74

Answer 7

Heck NOOOOOOOO!!!!!