{"id":49195,"date":"2014-12-19T10:59:19","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T16:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=49195"},"modified":"2026-03-15T12:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T17:49:37","slug":"charlie-choo-choo-brown-the-little-engine-that-could","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=49195","title":{"rendered":"Charlie \u201cChoo Choo\u201d Brown: The Little Engine That Could"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\" http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=49195 \" rel=\" http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=49195 \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-49196 size-full\" style=\"margin-right: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Choo-Choo.jpg\" alt=\"Choo Choo\" width=\"232\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As we limp toward the end of another year, the inevitable questions will arise. Who was the fighter of 2014? What was the performance of 2014? The fight of 2014? The shock etc. I have no doubt that \u2018respected\u2019 commentators will attempt to give answers but the wonderful thing about boxing is that there are no absolutes and you, the reader, you the fight fan, you the very engine of the sport we love\u2026your opinion should be the only one that works for you. I wouldn\u2019t bore you with mine unless, of course, there was beer involved but I will say that Amir Khan\u2019s performance against Devon Alexander was nothing short of spectacular.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just that he won and won so convincingly. It\u2019s that he looked so incredibly polished and the fears I\u2019ve had for Virgil Hunter\u2019s proposed reformation were well and truly put to bed as Khan unleashed with jaw dropping speed and accuracy. I suspect Floyd Mayweather, JR. may rethink his next opponent. Khan is fast, powerful, exciting and super confident. Thanks to Virgil Hunter he is a more mature fighter who knows when to mix it up and when the wisest way forward is to move backwards. Boxing has always had the flamboyant and the avant garde but what becomes of these fine fighters when there isn\u2019t a way to successfully fill the gaps. As a case in point, I am going to look at Charlie \u201cChoo Choo\u201d Brown.<\/p>\n<p>Charlie was the son of Lloyd \u2018Hurricane\u2019 Brown who, as an amateur, won the Diamond belt on the same night as his brother Henry \u201cToothpick\u201d Brown. Whereas Henry went on to a respectable pro career retiring with a record of 24-7-2, Lloyd started a family and his dreams were passed down to his son. Charlie was born on April 16th 1958 in the boxing heartland of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began boxing at the tender age of 11.<\/p>\n<p>Even as a kid, Charlie had style and panache and he carried that with him into the paid ranks. His pro debut was a stunning first round KO win over Wayne Dabney at the legendary Blue Horizon and seven months later, in November of 79, he stopped Jerry Strickland in two bringing his record to 7-0 with 6KO\u2019s. A highly disputed points loss to Jose Gonzales didn\u2019t dull his enthusiasm at all and he finished the year with a 3rd round KO of Elliot Freeman.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of 1983, Charlie was a serious contender for a Lightweight title having won 22 of his 25 bouts with 16 of his wins coming by way of knockout. But there were warning lights that had flashed from time to time and this is where the Amir Khan comparison becomes evident. Brown scored a draw with the lightly regarded Greg Netter in February of that year but had to climb off the canvas twice in the last round. Seven months later he was stopped in four rounds by Curtis Harris, a mediocre fighter at best. Shades of Breidis Prescott in that Khan, like Brown, could throw leather as well as anyone but really needed to work on that defense. Regardless, Brown got his chance against IBF Lightweight Champ, Melvin Paul, on January 30th 1984 and he took it with both fists. In an extremely tight bout, Brown managed to out punch the champion and took the title on a split decision. Looking back on that moment many years later Charlie would say \u201cI accomplished something not too many fighters get the chance to do. For that I am thankful\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>There was jubilation in Brewerytown but, alas, it was short lived. In his very next bout, Charlie would lose the title to the stylish Harry Arroyo in a bruising contest that would go 14 tough rounds before Brown would concede defeat. At this point, he was still a fine fighter but the weakness had been exposed. In throwing combinations and power punches, Brown would often leave himself badly exposed and that is captured perfectly in the bout with Boza-Edwards which you can find on Youtube.<\/p>\n<p>As you will see, Charlie came out all guns blazing and simply left his guard down.<\/p>\n<p>He retired in 1993 having lost his last 11 bouts with 8 of those by KO. Following an incredibly tight contest with the ultra tough Tyrone Crawley, where Brown lost out on a majority decision for the then vacant NABF Lightweight title, Charlie\u2019s career just drifted into that Twilight Zone of \u2018 what could have been\u2019. Don\u2019t let the numbers fool you, Charlie \u201cChoo Choo\u201d Brown was a class act who came with the kitchen sink and left with just the dishes. He was value for money every single time he laced up and he was champion of the world if only for a brief time.<\/p>\n<p>On May 16th 2010, Charlie was inducted into the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. The city, known for its fighting pedigree, paid respects to Brown with an honor he felt was overdue. \u201cI think I should have been in earlier\u201d he said \u201cIt\u2019s what it is though. You take the bitter with the sweet\u201d. Never wishing to be too far away from the game he loved, Charlie could often be found helping out young fighters at the 26th &amp; Masters Street Gym in North Philly. \u201cYou want them to listen to you\u201d said Brown \u201cYou don\u2019t want a smart mouth. You want someone like me to tell you how serious you have to be if this is what you want to do\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back over his career, Charlie \u201cChoo Choo\u201d Brown showed that he still knew that people mattered more than money, a decency lost on many modern fighters. \u201cI made nice money\u201d he said \u201cnever top dollar but I did what I could. Everybody here knows me and it\u2019s a good feeling. It\u2019s good to say \u2018people know that man did good with his life\u2026he counted for something\u2019. A lot of people don\u2019t get the chance to reach their desires and, for that, I am fortunate\u201d. On behalf of fight fans everywhere, thank you Charlie \u201cChoo Choo\u201d Brown.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Barry Livingston 360 Conversation: My Three Sons,  Movies, TV, Charles M. Schulz,  Peanuts &amp; More\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vPvZ9JUv9vY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"wpforms-container wpforms-container-full\" id=\"wpforms-126533\"><form id=\"wpforms-form-126533\" class=\"wpforms-validate wpforms-form wpforms-ajax-form\" data-formid=\"126533\" method=\"post\" enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" action=\"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F49195\" data-token=\"369556842a0155ba0da99761ac73af42\" data-token-time=\"1777821823\"><noscript class=\"wpforms-error-noscript\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.<\/noscript><div class=\"wpforms-field-container\"><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-name\" data-field-id=\"1\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\">Name <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><div class=\"wpforms-field-row wpforms-field-medium\"><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-first wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-first wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][first]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">First<\/label><\/div><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-last wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][last]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">Last<\/label><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-email\" data-field-id=\"2\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\">Email <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><input type=\"email\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][2]\" spellcheck=\"false\" required><\/div>\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4-container\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-type=\"text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-id=\"4\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" >or Message Comment<\/label>\n\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][4]\" >\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-textarea\" data-field-id=\"3\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\">Comment or Message<\/label><textarea id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][3]\" ><\/textarea><\/div><script>\n\t\t\t\t( function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tconst style = document.createElement( 'style' );\n\t\t\t\t\tstyle.appendChild( document.createTextNode( '#wpforms-126533-field_4-container { position: absolute !important; 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Who was the fighter of 2014? What was the performance of 2014? The fight of 2014? The shock etc. I have no doubt that \u2018respected\u2019 commentators will attempt to give answers but the wonderful thing about boxing is that there are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11576],"class_list":["post-49195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-charlie-choo-choo-brown-the-little-engine-that-could"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49195"}],"version-history":[{"count":-1,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}