Black Murderers Row – Boxing History

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By David “The Journeyman” Vaught

In the 1940’s a group of mostly African American middleweight boxers were dubbed “Black Murderers Row” by writer Budd Schulberg. These eight boxers were openly avoided, not only by many white fighters, but also by their black counterparts. “Sugar” Ray Robinson’s manager, George Gainsford, admitted that they had side stepped Charley Burley. He explained that Burley’s style didn’t match up with Ray’s. Charley Burley was, in fact, one of the most feared of the eight men on the row. Billy Conn’s manager, Johnny Ray reportedly told matchmaker Art Rooney to never mention Burley again.

There were men willing to challenge Burley though, men like Aaron Wade (1-0) UD and Archie Moore (1-0) UD. Moore once said of Burley,“He was like a thrashing machine going back and forth. His body would sometimes lean over towards you and he’d pull it back just in time. Hitting him solid was almost impossible. But what made him so dangerous was that he could punch from any angle.” Burley was ranked in the top ten in the welterweight and middleweight divisions for most of the 1940’s but was never given a title shot. The other members of Black Murderers Row include Eddie Booker, Jack Chase, Cocoa Kid (Herbert Lewis Hardwick), Aaron Wade, Bert Lytell, Holman Williams, and Lloyd Marshall.

These men were so feared that they had to have a tournament in which they faced each other a total of sixty-two times. Six of the eight members of the Row have been recognized as members of the International or World Boxing Hall of Fame. Sadly, the recognition came long after their careers had ended. So, we are left to wonder what these men’s records would have looked like if they had been given the opportunities they deserved. Black Murderers Row are only eight fighters of the era that were overlooked because of discrimination, there were many others. Others whose names we may not even know. These men were robbed of their hard-earned right to fight for a title and consequently, we, the fans. were robbed of many exciting bouts.

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