Charley Turner (1 January 1862 – 13 August 1913) was an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

boxer who claimed to be the colored middleweight champion of the World in the

Gay Nineties The Gay Nineties is an American nostalgic term and a periodization of the history of the United States referring to the decade of the 1890s. It is known in the United Kingdom as the Naughty Nineties, and refers there to the decade of supposedl ...

. Born in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

in 1862, Turner was known as "the Stockton Cyclone". He fought out of Stockton at a weight of between 148 and 156 lbs. during his career, which would classify him as a middleweight by modern reckoning as well as by the standards of the time. Boxing historian

Nat Fleischer Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector. Career Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ''N ...

claimed that Turner, whom he called a "great two-fisted fighter, as fearless as they come", won 90% percent of the bouts in which he fought. The Stockton Cyclone frequently took on boxers who outweighed him by as much as 20 lbs. His brother Rufe Turner also was a boxer.

Disputed Middleweight Championship

Harris Martin, "The Black Pearl", declared himself the world colored middleweight champion after beating "Black Frank" Taylor in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

on 2 May 1887.

Ed Binney Ed Binney (April 19, 1864 – unknown) was an African American boxer who was the colored middleweight champion of the World in the 1890s. Born Edward Phinney in Washington, D.C., the middleweight fought out of Boston and Cambridge, Massachusett ...

took the title from The Black Pearl on 30 November 1891 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In February 1892, a bout was scheduled between The Black Pearl and The Stockton Cyclone but had to be postponed due to an abscess on Turner's jaw. The fight was finally held on February 29 during that

leap year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) compared to a common year. The 366th day (or 13th month) is added to keep t ...

of 1892. The bout was held at the Occidental Club in San Francisco for a purse of $1,000 (equivalent to approximately $ in today's funds). Turner prevailed via a

K.O. A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the 19th round. Turner claimed the colored middleweight title (which actually was not The Black Pearl's to lose) but never defended it. Binney was considered the lineal champ; he lost his title on November 13, 1892 in Philadelphia to

Joe Butler Joseph Campbell Butler (born September 16, 1941) is an American drummer, singer and actor. He is best known as a member of folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful, where he was their drummer and later lead vocalist, the group had seven top 10 hits ...

Arrest

In May 1893, Turner was arrested in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

for robbing Alfred Rodgers of his gold watch and chain. The bail was set at $1,000. Convicted of the theft on June 30, Turner was imprisoned for a year in

Folsom State Prison Folsom California State Prison is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, United States, approximately northeast of the state capital of Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of Correcti ...

and did not officially fight during the calendar year 1894.

Record

The Stockton Cyclone fought again from 1895 through 1904, after which he retired. In his career, Turner officially won 11 fights (

knocking out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

his opponent in nine of the bouts), lost seven (and was knocked out six times), and drew six.

Death

In June 1913, ''

The News Tribune ''The News Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tacoma, Washington. It is the second-largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington with a weekday circulation of 30,945 in 2020. With origins dating back to 1883, the newspaper w ...

'' reported that Turner was dying from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. He died at his mother's home in

on August 13, 1913. His obituary described Turner as a "legitimate middleweight and could easily do 150 pounds. He was fast, clever, had short, snappy straight punches and carried a knockout in either glove. He was regarded as a wonderful ring general, besides being thoroughly game".

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Charles 1862 births 1913 deaths Boxers from California African-American boxers Middleweight boxers World colored middleweight boxing champions American male boxers 20th-century African-American sportsmen