BoxRec

just been looking at the ring record of charlie magri. i c he won his british title in only his 3rd fight :P and was a decent european level fighter and got his hands on the wbc title before losing it in his 1st defence.

lets have the SP on him then??? what was he like as a fighter?? strengths, weaknesses that kind of thing.

hitman_hatton1 wrote:just been looking at the ring record of charlie magri. i c he won his british title in only his 3rd fight :P and was a decent european level fighter and got his hands on the wbc title before losing it in his 1st defence.

lets have the SP on him then??? what was he like as a fighter?? strengths, weaknesses that kind of thing.

Devastating banger for a flyweight. He used to knock out lightweights in the gym. Won a genuine world title in 1983 but was good enough to have won it earlier. His chin let him down a few times, but only when opponents had felt the full force of his punches. He wasn't one of those fighters who 'went' early; only when he was tired.

Huge puncher, glass chin. Very exciting style - two fisted attacks and you'd have to be a world class fighter to survive, or have a rock like chin.

Hardly any flyweights around at the time in the UK, hence the early shot. But he was so good they couldn't find any challengers for him.
Until the late Keith Wallace came along a few years later - but the match was never made, which was a shame.

He was upset by Juan Diaz - it was a big shock and made the back page on The Sun I remember.
A few more losses, and knockdowns, and Boxing News were calling for him to retire.
Credit him for keeping on though, because he eventualy came up trumps.
Won the world title on a cut eye I remember.

MightyWarrior wrote:Huge puncher, glass chin. Very exciting style - two fisted attacks and you'd have to be a world class fighter to survive, or have a rock like chin.

Hardly any flyweights around at the time in the UK, hence the early shot. But he was so good they couldn't find any challengers for him.
Until the late Keith Wallace came along a few years later - but the match was never made, which was a shame.

He was upset by Juan Diaz - it was a big shock and made the back page on The Sun I remember.
A few more losses, and knockdowns, and Boxing News were calling for him to retire.
Credit him for keeping on though, because he eventualy came up trumps.
Won the world title on a cut eye I remember.

Boxing News had a front page headline after Magri was stopped in nine rounds by Jose Torres in 1982: "The Dream is Over". Within a year, Magri was WBC champion.
But it was all part of Harry Mullan's pro-allegedly/anti-Mickey Duff crusade.

yeah i noticed his KO ratio 23 out of 30 thats pretty damn huge for the little guys. also noticed that his world title shot come a bit late 27 is knocking on for the little guys.

hitman_hatton1 wrote:yeah i noticed his KO ratio 23 out of 30 thats pretty damn huge for the little guys. also noticed that his world title shot come a bit late 27 is knocking on for the little guys.

I was at ringside when Magri won his WBC title against Eleoncio Mercedes in 1983. The champion started well but Magri shrugged off his best punches and really poured it on in the middle rounds and was on the verge of knocking out the champion when a bad cut actually saved Mercedes from getting poleaxed.
Make no mistake, Magri was the better man.
He now runs a pub in Bethnal Green. He's still a scary guy. You don't want to mess with him.

bennie wrote:

hitman_hatton1 wrote:yeah i noticed his KO ratio 23 out of 30 thats pretty damn huge for the little guys. also noticed that his world title shot come a bit late 27 is knocking on for the little guys.

I was at ringside when Magri won his WBC title against Eleoncio Mercedes in 1983. The champion started well but Magri shrugged off his best punches and really poured it on in the middle rounds and was on the verge of knocking out the champion when a bad cut actually saved Mercedes from getting poleaxed.
Make no mistake, Magri was the better man.
He now runs a pub in Bethnal Green. He's still a scary guy. You don't want to mess with him.

he has that tough look and a classic boxers nose flat as a pancake it is.

has any1 ever bettered magri's british title win in only his 3rd fight???

yeah, i remember watching magri on the telly when i was a kid, he could bang alright.
although he won the british title in his third fight i think he only had one other defence of the title and wasnt eligible for a lonsdale belt.
i`m sure the british boxing board of control awarded him a lonsdale belt anyway in honour of his excellent career.
i`m not certain about this though.

headhunter wrote:yeah, i remember watching magri on the telly when i was a kid, he could bang alright.
although he won the british title in his third fight i think he only had one other defence of the title and wasnt eligible for a lonsdale belt.
i`m sure the british boxing board of control awarded him a lonsdale belt anyway in honour of his excellent career.
i`m not certain about this though.

Yes, the Board gave him a belt outright. He was a shit hot amateur. Won four ABA titles on the spin (when ABA titles meant something) and was one of the favourites for gold at the 1976 Olympics. But a Canadian southpaw Ian Clyde first exposed Magri's major weakness - that he was vulnerable when tired. Clyde got him with a big right hook with seconds to spare in their bout. Magri beat the count, looked up at the clock while the referee was asking if he was okay, and got stopped.
It's a stoppage that rankles with him to this day.

is charlie the only fighter to get a lonsdale belt this way bennie?

headhunter wrote:is charlie the only fighter to get a lonsdale belt this way bennie?

Not sure, to be honest.

thanks anyway, mate.

I think the British Flyweight champ of the late 60s and early 70s John Mcclusky was also awarded his lonsdale belt without making the stipulated 3 defences.... due to lack of opposition.
Charlie was a great little fighter.... to be fair to Harry Mullan I think his comments asking for Charlie to retire was motivated by a true concern for him rather than just a antipathy for Duff, Magri became rather open to head punches later in his career and certainly was past his best when he won the WBC title...... had he got his shot say 3 years before I think Charlie would have raked up a couple of good defences.
Charlies nose got like that after it was badly broken when he was sparring with Mark Kaylor... a 6 foot plus middleweight!!! :( :( :( :o :x
Isn't it true that Magri fell out with Lawless after his last bout and has never talked to him since?..... any more info on this.... 8)

silkov wrote:to be fair to Harry Mullan I think his comments asking for Charlie to retire was motivated by a true concern for him rather than just a antipathy for Duff, Magri became rather open to head punches later in his career and certainly was past his best when he won the WBC title...... had he got his shot say 3 years before I think Charlie would have raked up a couple of good defences.
Charlies nose got like that after it was badly broken when he was sparring with Mark Kaylor... a 6 foot plus middleweight!!! :( :( :( :x
Isn't it true that Magri fell out with Lawless after his last bout and has never talked to him since?..... any more info on this.... 8)

Lawless and Magri fell out, inevitably, over money. Lawless was notoriously tight ("It kills them if they think you've got the bus money home," Chris Sanigar once said of Lawless and Duff). You'll remember the startling revelation concerning The Cartel in 1984, when a break-in at Mickey Duff's Soho office saw £100,000 worth of jewellry stolen from a safe and also a legal document revealing that Duff, Lawless, Mike Barrett and Jarvis Astaire were all sharing a quarter of any profits made from boxing. Magri was outspoken on this. He said he could make more money in his sports shop in one day than he did defending his world title. He and Lawless stayed together for a couple more years, but never spoke. And after Magri retired in 1986, that was it.
Harry Mullan did use Magri as a pawn in his anti-Cartel game. I was actually with Mullan when he told me Magri had cancelled his BN subscription in early 1983. Mullan's sadness was surprising. He knew he had gone too far with Charlie in print just to needle Duff. But there was a silver lining. Immediately after winning the world title, Magri told Harry Carpenter on BBC-TV that BN's attitude had spurred him on to the title.

Some fascinating background information in this thread.

I remember Magri's face from seeing on tv as a kid, it wasn't a face you forgot easily, scary looking bastard he was. I seem to recall a broken hooter being called a 'charlie magri' for quite some time.

If you looked up 'boxer's nose' in an encyclopedia, there would undoubtedly be a picture of Magri beside it.

I think his family was originaly from France? He used to say he was going to have his nose fixed when he retired ( he had the bone taken out, or something weird like that ) doesn't look like he's too bothered though.

When Warren had the brilliant Keith Wallace on his books, he tried to get Magri in the ring for a mini UK superfight - taking out WANTED posters in Boxing News.
I think it was Warren who landed Magri his last world title shot, against "The Muhammad Ali of the far East" - Sot Chitalada, a fantastic fighter.
Charlie came out bombing, and seemed to shake up the champion a few times, but Chitalada calmly rode out the storm and came back with his own punches to finish off Magri a few rounds later.

MightyWarrior wrote:I think his family was originaly from France? He used to say he was going to have his nose fixed when he retired ( he had the bone taken out, or something weird like that ) doesn't look like he's too bothered though.

When Warren had the brilliant Keith Wallace on his books, he tried to get Magri in the ring for a mini UK superfight - taking out WANTED posters in Boxing News.
I think it was Warren who landed Magri his last world title shot, against "The Muhammad Ali of the far East" - Sot Chitalada, a fantastic fighter.
Charlie came out bombing, and seemed to shake up the champion a few times, but Chitalada calmly rode out the storm and came back with his own punches to finish off Magri a few rounds later.

Yes, he was born in Tunisia and brought up in Stepney, before moving to Bethnal Green. I hate to speak ill of he dead, but he would have murdered Wallace with body shots. Warren put up a combined offer of £60,000 for a 1982 meeting, huge money back then (you could buy a nice house for £20,000). That may have been another reason why Magri and Lawless didn't get on. Magri lost out on a big payday in a winnable fight out of sheer politics.

Yeah, Magri vs Wallace would have been a good fight when Charlie was at his best but he was on the way down by the time KEITH came along. I'd pic Charlie at his best to stop Wallace who was a nice boxer but seemed to lack durability.
Actually Wallaces life is a very sad story from what I know, his career went off the rails when he fell in with the wrong crowd I believe... and I found out recently that he died a couple of years ago while still in his 30s... very sad.

Yes with hindsight Magri would probably have beaten Keith. We didn't know it at the time, but Keith's major weakness was body shots.
I was just looking at his record, and notice they brought over Juan Diaz to fight him - the same guy who'd upset Magri.
It all went wrong in Keith's next fight though, when Montero stopped him with body shots for the European title.

silkov wrote:Yeah, Magri vs Wallace would have been a good fight when Charlie was at his best but he was on the way down by the time KEITH came along. I'd pic Charlie at his best to stop Wallace who was a nice boxer but seemed to lack durability.
Actually Wallaces life is a very sad story from what I know, his career went off the rails when he fell in with the wrong crowd I believe... and I found out recently that he died a couple of years ago while still in his 30s... very sad.

Wallace liked a beer too much to really make a success of his undoubted talent. Died of cancer surroundered by his wife and kids. An incomprehensible loss.

Magri was the best European Flyweight of that period, by miles! He was world class level and despite being smallish, he could punch hard! He was a crowd favourite, quick out the blocks but his Achilles heel was to sometimes punch himself out against an opponent who preferred tactics that were boring and defensive! My facebook page details his fights and has a picture of him with a yellow background.

A bit unfair, your assessment of Magri so please check my Charlie Magri facebook page, the one with a picture with a yellow background, to see pictures and fight reports. No-one could match him in Europe and he also had something which the rest lack: "Crowd Pleaser, Box Office Hit!"

I agree with what u said about Magri and that he was given the title shot a little late! Magri was planned to have met Alberto Morales, March 4th; Wembley, but the card went ahead without this fight. the full card was: Jesse Burnett / Lotte Mwale; Tony Sibson / Chisanda Mutti plus Gary Nickells / Mike Piggott in British Commonwealth title fight. I have a Charlie Magri facebook page, the one with his picture on a yellow background; I'd appreciate any comments from fans as I'd like younger boxing fans to know a bit more about this great champ!

Nice fight assessment! I have created a Charlie magri facebook page; the one with his picture on a yellow background. I'd appreciate ur comments, thanks.

Please take a look at my facebook Charlie Magri page; it's the one with his picture on a yellow background. Thanks.