Carmel Magri (born 20 July 1956), who boxed under the name Charlie Magri, is a British former professional boxer. He is from a Tunisian family that settled in Limehouse, London, where he grew up. During his professional career he held the WBC and lineal flyweight titles.
Early life Born Carmel Magri in Tunis, Tunisia in 1956 to Andre and Rose Magri, both of whom were born in Tunisia and had some French-Maltese heritage via their grandparents,Magri (2007), p. 1Magri (2007), p. 3 Magri moved with his parents and six siblings to England in 1958, and Magri was raised (after moving house a couple of times) on the Burdett Estate in East London."History of London Boxing", BBC, 28 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2017"Charlie Magri", London Ex-Boxers Association. Retrieved 26 December 2017 Charlie Magri went to St Philip Howard RC Secondary School in Upper North Street in Poplar. It has been demolished and is now a housing development.
Amateur career After playing for the Millwall F.C. youth team, which was captained by Jimmy Batten, who was already boxing regularly, Magri decided to take up boxing.Magri (2007), p. 14 As an amateur he boxed for Arbour Youth Boxing Club in Stepney Green and was trained by Jimmy Graham, who arranged for the name on Magri's ABA registration to be changed to Charlie when he was 11.Magri (2007), p. 5
Charles first ever amateur bout was against Chris Genkins of the Orpington Boxing Club.
He gained the following ABA titles: ABA Youth Champion (Class A) - 1972 ABA Youth Champion (Class B) - 1973 ABA Light-flyweight Champion (48 kg) - 1974 ABA Flyweight Champion (51 kg) - 1975 ABA Flyweight Champion (51 kg) - 1976 ABA Flyweight Champion (51 kg) - 1977
He also won a bronze medal at the 1975 European championships, and boxed for Great Britain in the 1976 Summer Olympics losing in the third round to Ian Clyde of Canada.
1976 Olympic results Below are the results of Charlie Magri, a flyweight boxer, who competed for Great Britain at the 1976 Montreal Olympics:
Round of 64: bye Round of 32: was awarded a victory by walkover versus Eric Quaotsey (Ghana) Round of 16: lost to Ian Clyde (Canada) by third-round knockout
Professional career Magri was 5 ft 3 in tall and had an exciting, aggressive style, being a two-handed puncher who did not care much for defence. He was managed by Terry Lawless.
While working as a tailor's cutter by day, he had his first professional fight in October 1977, at the age of twenty-one; He knocked out Neil Mclaughlin in the second round at the Royal Albert Hall.New Statesman, vol. 100 (1980), p. 10
In only his third fight he gained the vacant British flyweight title after his fight with Dave Smith was stopped in the seventh round, equalling Dick Smith's 63-year old record for becoming British champion in the fewest fights. In December 1977 he was voted Best Young Boxer by the Boxing Writers' Club.
In his twelfth fight, in May 1979, having won the previous eleven, he won on points against Franco Udella to take the European flyweight title. He won on points over twelve rounds at Wembley Arena.Bunce, Steve (2017) Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing (Kindle edition), Transworld Digital, ASIN B01KUHG9R0
In December 1979, he defended his European title against Manuel Carrasco, of Spain, winning on points. In June 1980, he defended it again, this time against Giovanni Camputaro of Italy, winning on a technical knockout in the third.
In February 1981, he defended his European title against Spaniard, Enrique Rodríguez, knocking him out in the second round.Thackrah, John Richard (1983) The Royal Albert Hall, Terence Dalton, , p. 160 In September he fought a re-match with Rodríguez in Avilés, Spain, and again knocked him out in the second.
World title In March 1983, he fought Eleoncio Mercedes, of the Dominican Republic, for the WBC and lineal flyweight titles. The fight was at Wembley Arena and Magri won the titles when the fight was stopped in the seventh on cuts.Fleischer, Nat & Andre, Sam (2002) An Illustrated History of Boxing, Citadel Press, , p. 405
In September 1983, he defended his world titles against Frank Cedeno, of the Philippines. The fight was at Wembley Arena, and Magri lost his titles when the referee stopped the fight in the sixth, after Magri had been knocked down three times.
Later fights In his next fight, in August 1984, Magri fought for the vacant European flyweight title that he had previously relinquished. He fought Italian Franco Cherchi in Cagliari, Italy. Magri won in the first round when a clash of heads left the Italian so badly cut that the referee had to stop the fight.
In his next fight, in February 1985, he fought for the WBC flyweight title again. Since Magri had lost it, it had changed hands several times and was now held by Sot Chitalada of Thailand. The fight was held at the Alexandra Palace, London and Chitalada won on a technical knockout at the start of the fifth, after Magri's corner retired him due to cuts.Mee, Bob (1997) Boxing: Heroes & Champions, Book Sales Inc., , p. 71
In October 1985, Magri fought a re-match against Franco Cherchi, in Alessandria, Italy, winning by a knockout in the second round.Britannica Book of the Year 1985, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., p. 387
In May 1986, Magri had his last fight, defending his European title against Duke McKenzie of Croydon.Harding, John (2016) Lonsdale's Belt: Boxing's Most Coveted Prize (Kindle edition), Pitch Publishing, ASIN B01LDFM1XY Magri had relinquished his British flyweight title in August 1981, and McKenzie was now the holder. The fight was stopped in the fifth round when Magri was knocked down and his manager, Lawless, threw in the towel when Magri beat the count.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes35Loss30–5Duke McKenzie34Win30–4Franco Cherchi33Loss29–4Sot Chitalada32Win29–3Franco Cherchi31Loss28–3Frank Cedeno30Win28–2Eleoncio Mercedes29Win27–2Jose Torres28Win26–2Enrique Rodríguez27Loss25–2Jose Torres26Win25–1Ron Cisneros25Win24–1Cipriano Arreola24Loss23–1Juan Diaz23Win23–0Jose Herrera22Win22–0Enrique Rodríguez21Win21–0Santos Laciar20Win20–0Enrique Castro19Win19–0Alfonso López18Win18–0Giovanni Camputaro17Win17–0Aniceto Vargas16Win16–0Manuel Carrasco15Win15–0Candy Iglesias14Win14–0Raul Pacheco13Win13–0Freddie Gonzalez12Win12–0Franco Udella11Win11–0Mike Stuart10Win10–0Filippo Belvedere9Win9–0Mariano Garcia8Win8–0Claudio Tanda7Win7–0Sabatino De Filippo6Win6–0Manuel Carrasco5Win5–0Dominique Cesari4Win4–0Nessim Zebelini3Win3–0Dave Smith2Win2–0Bryn Griffiths1Win1–0Neil McLaughlin
After boxing Magri was the manager for super-featherweight boxer, Dean Pithie. Magri owned a sports shop on the Bethnal Green Road and later owned the Victoria pub in Bow, east London.
In 2017 he became a coach at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College's boxing academy.King, Samantha Lauren (2017) "Former world-champion boxer Charlie Magri is new coach at college’s boxing academy", feweek.co.uk, 24 September 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017
See also List of world flyweight boxing champions List of British world boxing champions
References
Sources Magri, Charlie (2007) Champagne Charlie, Pennant Books,
External links
"Champagne" Charlie Magri - CBZ Profile