Charlie Magri


Carmel Magri, 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 moved with his parents and six siblings to England in 1958, and Magri was raised on the Burdett Estate in East London.
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. 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.
Charles first ever amateur bout was against Chris Genkins of the Orpington Boxing Club.
He gained the following ABA titles:
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
  • Round of 16: lost to Ian Clyde 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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
In October 1985, Magri fought a re-match against Franco Cherchi, in Alessandria, Italy, winning by a knockout in the second round.
In May 1986, Magri had his last fight, defending his European title against Duke McKenzie of Croydon. 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

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
35Loss30–5Duke McKenzieRTD5 1986-05-20Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K.Lost European flyweight title
34Win30–4Franco CherchiKO2 1985-10-30Palazzetto dello Sport, Alessandria, ItalyRetained European flyweight title
33Loss29–4Sot ChitaladaRTD4 1985-02-20Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, England, U.K.For WBC and The Ring flyweight titles
32Win29–3Franco CherchiTKO1 1984-08-24Cagliari, ItalyWon vacant European flyweight title
31Loss28–3Frank CedenoTKO6 1983-09-27Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K.Lost WBC and The Ring flyweight titles
30Win28–2Eleoncio MercedesTKO7 1983-03-15Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K.Won WBC and The Ring flyweight titles
29Win27–2Jose TorresPTS10 1982-11-23Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K.
28Win26–2Enrique RodríguezTKO2 1982-09-18Pabellón Deportivo de La Magdalena, Aviles, SpainRetained European flyweight title
27Loss25–2Jose TorresTKO9 1982-05-04Wembley Arena, Wembley, England, U.K.
26Win25–1Ron CisnerosTKO3 1982-04-20Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
25Win24–1Cipriano ArreolaPTS10 1982-03-02Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
24Loss23–1Juan DiazKO6 1981-10-13Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
23Win23–0Jose HerreraKO1 1981-06-20Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K.
22Win22–0Enrique RodríguezTKO2 1981-02-24Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.Retained European flyweight title
21Win21–0Santos LaciarPTS10 1980-12-08Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
20Win20–0Enrique CastroTKO1 1980-10-14Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
19Win19–0Alfonso LópezPTS10 1980-09-16Conference Centre, Wembley, England, U.K.
18Win18–0Giovanni CamputaroTKO3 1980-06-28Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K.Retained European flyweight title
17Win17–0Aniceto VargasKO3 1980-01-22Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
16Win16–0Manuel CarrascoUD12 1979-12-04Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K.Retained European flyweight title
15Win15–0Candy IglesiasTKO3 1979-10-23Conference Centre, Wembley, England, U.K.
14Win14–0Raul PachecoTKO6 1979-09-25Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K.
13Win13–0Freddie GonzalezKO3 1979-05-29Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
12Win12–0Franco UdellaSD12 1979-05-01Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K.Won European flyweight title
11Win11–0Mike StuartKO3 1979-02-20Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
10Win10–0Filippo BelvedereTKO1 1979-01-23Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
9Win9–0Mariano GarciaKO3 1978-12-05Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
8Win8–0Claudio TandaTKO1 1978-10-24Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
7Win7–0Sabatino De FilippoTKO7 1978-09-12Conference Centre, Wembley, England, U.K.
6Win6–0Manuel CarrascoPTS8 1978-04-25Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
5Win5–0Dominique CesariRTD3 1978-04-04Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
4Win4–0Nessim ZebeliniTKO3 1978-02-21Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.
3Win3–0Dave SmithTKO7 1977-12-06Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.Won vacant British flyweight title
2Win2–0Bryn GriffithsTKO2 1977-11-15York Hall, Bethnal Green, England, U.K.
1Win1–0Neil McLaughlinKO2 1977-10-25Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, England, U.K.

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.