Charley Riley (April 22, 1922 - May 22, 1994) is an inductee of the Boxing Hall of Fame. He was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

and was sometimes known as ''Chillin' Charley''.

Career

Charley Riley was a top

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

contender in the 1940s and 1950s. He achieved nationwide recognition in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with a trio of exciting fights with ex-NBA featherweight champ

Phil Terranova Phil Terranova (September 4, 1919 – March 16, 2000) was an American boxer who took the NBA World Featherweight Boxing Championship in 1943 in a bout against Jackie Callura. His manager was Bobby Gleason. Early life and career Phil Terranova ...

. He lost via a one-punch body-shot knockout on February 22, 1946, but on April 30, 1947, evened the score with a 7th-round

TKO A technical knockout (TKO) is a professional fighting term. TKO may also refer to: Sports * TKO, the name of a professional wrestling move referring to either the cutter or stunner variant * TKO Group Holdings, a combat sports company Music Ar ...

of Terranova. On September 3, 1947, he scored a first-round TKO of Terranova. Reports were that the referee stopped this fight on the advice of the ring doctor because Terranova was bleeding profusely. Riley fought

Willie Pep Guglielmo Papaleo ( Middletown - September 19, 1922 – November 23, 2006) was an American professional boxer, better known as Willie Pep, who held the World Featherweight championship twice between the years of 1942 and 1950. Papaleo was born ...

for the featherweight championship in St Louis January 16, 1950 and was knocked out by Pep by a body punch in the fifth round. He accepted a non-title bout with reigning featherweight champion

Sandy Saddler Joseph "Sandy" Saddler (June 23, 1926 – September 18, 2001) was an American professional boxer. He was a two-time featherweight world champion, having also held the super featherweight title. Over his twelve-year career (1944–56), Saddler s ...

November 1, 1950 and lost a decision. He put pressure on Saddler in the first part of the fight but faded in the later rounds. During his career Riley also faced

Glen Flanagan Glen Flanagan (November 16, 1926 – January 28, 1979) was a featherweight professional boxer from Minnesota. Personal life Glen Flanagan was born and raised in St Paul, Minnesota. He and his wife Betty had six children, and Glen went on to have ...

Jackie Graves Jackie Graves (September 12, 1922 – November 15, 2005), alias "The Austin Atom", was a featherweight Boxing, boxer from Minnesota. Personal life Graves was a native of Austin, Minnesota. Boxing career From 1944 to 1956 Graves compiled a career ...

Corky Gonzalez Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales (June 18, 1928 – April 12, 2005) was a Mexican-American boxer, poet, political organizer, and activist. He was one of many leaders for the Crusade for Justice in Denver, Colorado. The Crusade for Justice was an urba ...

George Araujo George Araujo (May 26, 1931 – November 21, 1997) was a lightweight professional boxer from Rhode Island. Personal life and professional career Araujo was born in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. He was of Cape Verd ...

and Redtop Davis. Riley retired in 1954 with a record of 69 wins (39 by knockout), 29 losses, and 2 draws. Although he was never a world champion, Charley Riley was inducted to ''

The Ring The Ring may refer to: Arts and entertainment *The Ring (franchise), ''The Ring'' (franchise), a Japanese horror media franchise Literature * ''The Ring'', a 1967 novel by Richard Chopping * ''The Ring'', a 1988 book by Daniel Keys Moran * ''The R ...

'' magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame (disbanded in 1987). He was also known as the "Finney Avenue Fashion Plate" (an avenue in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

) for his attention to dress.

References

Boxers from Missouri 1922 births 1994 deaths American male boxers Featherweight boxers 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-boxing-bio-stub