BY THE NUMBERS:
CHARLIE POWELL by Don Stradley • Illustration by KronkAAArt Charlie Powell possessed such a rare athleticism that he couldn’t (baseball) and the Harlem Globetrotters (basketball). After a brief period with the Browns, he then signed with the San Francisco 49ers (football), where he became one of the NFL’s youngest starting players. Yet boxing beckoned. While playing for both the 49ers and the Oakland Raiders, Powell established himself as a busy heavyweight contender during the 1950s and ’60s. This is his incredible story, by the numbers. be contained by a single sport. As a high school standout, he attracted the attention of both the St. Louis Browns
win over Nino Valdes » Defeating the highly regarded Valdes was a career high point for Powell. The big Cuban was a 4-to-1 betting favorite when the pair clashed at the Miami Beach Auditorium in March 1959. Powell at the time was still uncertain if his future
bouts with Charley Norkus » Prior to the bout with Valdes, Powell had a score to settle with Charley Norkus, a rugged old pro known as “The Bayonne Bomber.” Norkus had the distinction of being
lay in boxing rings or on the gridiron. He believed a good win would help him decide his career path. He couldn’t have asked for a better performance than the one he gave against Valdes, a perennial contender who boasted a record of 46-15-3.
seconds with Britain’s “Golden Boy” » It may have been the shortest retirement in history. Powell returned to boxing within a few weeks to face British contender Billy Walker. Traveling overseas to fight Walker in London, Powell gave a performance The London Daily Mirror called “woefully disappointing.” Walker, known affectionately in the U.K. press as “Golden Boy,” shelled Powell from the opening bell and stopped him at 2:32 of the second. “I reckon I just underestimated him,” Powell said. The oddest incident of Powell’s trip took place just a week before the bout. When the fighters had lunch in a Soho cafe to promote the event, Powell noticed a piano in the corner of the room. Knowing his way around the keyboard, Powell started playing. Walker quickly grabbed a microphone and sang “My Heart Cries For You,” a tune he’d released a few months earlier on the Decca label. If the impromptu duet was part of Walker’s pre-fight strategy to soften Powell up with a love song, it worked.
the first to defeat Powell and ending his 12-bout unbeaten streak with a seventh-round stoppage in their 1954 bout in San Francisco. It was bad matchmaking – Norkus, though not a ranked contender, was experienced with 36 bouts to his credit. Powell was still learning on the job. Predictably, their first fight was a slugfest, with Powell dropping Norkus in the opening round. The more seasoned fighter worked his way back, withstood another aggressive charge from Powell in the third and changed the tide of the fight by decking Powell in the fourth. The seventh was Powell’s Waterloo, as Norkus floored him thrice more until the bout was stopped at the 2:10 mark. Powell came out of the fight with an injured right hand and the first of many accusations that his chin was weak. “In the final summary,” wrote Sid Ziff of the Los Angeles Mirror, “young Powell could dish it out, but he couldn’t take it.” The second battle of the Charleses took place four years later in San Diego. Powell avenged the earlier loss by winning a 10-round decision, but the dullish bout did little for his reputation. “This fight was supposed to prove whether Powell is a fighter or a football player,” reported the San Diego Union. “It proved nothing.” Tough crowd. Is it any wonder Powell returned to football in 1960 for a season with the Raiders? (Incidentally, Powell’s younger brother Art also played for the Raiders during his own excellent football career.)
At 6-foot-4 and looking like a wall of muscle at 213 pounds, Powell used his strong left jab and short, jolting hooks to dominate Valdes and knock him down multiple times. It was, as the United Press called it, a “slaughter,” until referee Cy Gottfried stopped the bout at
total fights » Powell (1932-2014) retired for good after the debacle in England, though he spent a few more years as a sparring partner for hire. His final record was 25-11-3 with 17 knockouts. In time, he acquired a sort of legendary status, that of the smashing defensive end who became a heavyweight boxer and fought Ali. The legend was such that The New York Times began Powell’s obituary by calling him “the sort of athlete about whom Bunyanesque mythology was reasonably applied.” Yet his sheer athletic prowess may have ultimately prevented Powell from becoming a top-tier boxer. Could he have gone further in boxing had he not had so many other options? Perhaps. However, this is not a story of what could have been, but a lesson in what was: For some, a life of varied brilliance is more admirable than a singular, focused career. After all, how many of us can say we were compared favorably to Paul Bunyan?
2:03 of the eighth round. It was Powell’s 20th win in 25 fights and a boost to his self-esteem. “At last,” he said after the bout, “I feel I’ll go places in boxing.” Unfortunately, Powell lost his next two bouts to Roy Harris and Mike DeJohn.
rounds with Muhammad Ali » It was Powell’s misfortune to challenge a 21-year- old Ali, still known as Cassius Clay, in 1963. Before a crowd of 11,228 at the
years old when he met the Ol’ Mongoose »
As a child in San Diego, Powell lived near light heavyweight legend Archie Moore and took some boxing lessons from the old master at age 12. Powell once told The New York Times, “The fellow who taught me most of what I know is Archie Moore.” consecutive wins by DQ » Powell earned his 10th pro win when opponent Sandy McPherson was disqualified for excessive holding at the Oakland Auditorium in August 1954. One month later in the same building, journeyman Keene Simmons was disqualified when his handler stepped into the ring during the sixth round, concerned that Simmons’ nose was bleeding too much. The fans jeered both fighters, which purportedly had Powell “near tears,” according to the Oakland Tribune. “Gee,” Powell said, “people are hard to please.”
Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the upstart from Louisville had an easy time with Powell, scoring a knockout at 2:04 of the third. The bout happened during Ali’s early heyday, a time when he was calling the round in which he’d KO his opponent and making his predictions stick. He’d boldly estimated a third-round stoppage of Powell, which turned out to be his 13th
loss to Floyd Patterson » As Patterson tried to rebuild his career after his two losses to Sonny Liston, Powell seemed a reasonable choice for an opponent. Powell, by then, was a known commodity – he looked formidable, but he had never disproved the doubts about his
chin. When they met in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in December 1964, Patterson emerged victorious by KO at 1:21 of the sixth. Powell announced his retirement after the bout. “If you can’t beat the best,” he said, “there’s no use in hanging around with the second-raters.”
correct prediction. For his part, Powell admitted he had made a strategic blunder in trying to stop his younger, quicker opponent with one punch. “I should have jabbed more and kept the pressure on him,” Powell said.
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