Charley Fusari born Calogero Fusari (August 20, 1924 – November 4, 1985) was an Italian-American boxer born in Italy. Fusari was born in

Alcamo Alcamo (; scn, Àrcamu, italic=no) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distan ...

, in the

Province of Trapani Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it ...

and emigrated to the US with his family when a boy. Charlie fought 92 bouts, 8 amateur and 84 “pro”;he was the New Jersey State Champion in 1947, ’48 and ’49, becoming a

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

on May 8, 1944; he fought against greats boxers of his time such as

Rocky Graziano Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing hi ...

, Tony Janiro,

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regard ...

. Charley was a good fighter and won all his first 45 fights: in his 45th fight, he beat the great Tippy Larkin. Fusari suffered from impaired hearing. With his ring earnings he bought a milk delivery business for his family. Fusari as a result became known as the Irvington milkman. : Fusari had two

world title A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

shots during his career. He lost a one-sided decision to defending welterweight champion

on August 9, 1950 and lost a split decision to

Johnny Bratton Johnny Bratton, also known as Honey Boy Bratton, (September 9, 1927 – August 15, 1993) was an American professional boxer and briefly reigned as the NBA welterweight champion in 1951. He fought many of the best fighters of his era in ...

for the vacant

National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

World welterweight title on March 14, 1951 after Robinson had left the title after winning the world middleweight title from Jake LaMotta a month earlier. He defeated such boxers as Attilio "

Rocky Castellani Attilio N. "Rocky" Castellani (May 26, 1926 – August 31, 2008) was an American middleweight boxer. He was the top rated contender for the world middleweight crown in 1954 when he fought Bobo Olson and in July 1955 when he lost to Sugar Ray ...

Maxie Berger Maxie Berger (February 23, 1917 – August 1, 2000) was a Canadian boxer who fought as a flyweight, junior welterweight, and welterweight from 1935–1946. He squared off against many different Hall of Famers including the likes of Sugar Ray ...

, Freddie Archer, Pat Demers, Al "Red" Priest, Terry Young, Joey Carkido, Jimmy Flood, Frankie Palermo,

Vince Foster Vincent Walker Foster Jr. (January 15, 1945 – July 20, 1993) was an American attorney who served as deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration. Foster had been a partner at Rose Law Firm in Lit ...

and Tony Pellone. He retired from boxing in 1952.

References

Sources

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External links

*http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/11210 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fusari, Charley 1924 births 1985 deaths American boxers of Italian descent Italian emigrants to the United States People from Alcamo Welterweight boxers American male boxers Sportspeople from the Province of Trapani